0069 - Wau-CHU-la

So here we are in sunny/rainy/sunny Wauchula... the daily rain showers continue to make it very sauna-like outside.

As usual, we're learning as we go along... we apparently needed to ask certain questions about our cabin... and I was so happy to have a place to stay that I did not think to ask them... Such as...

• Is the bed at least queen-sized? We ended up with a full-sized brick that we now have two egg crate cushions on and it is barely comfortable.

• Does it have internet access? No, it does not. Thank goodness for mobile hotspots. I have reactivated mine... Otherwise, you have to go to the office to get the internet.

• Does it look like the type of place where you might check out a dvd from the office, there are a bunch of random images that flash across the screen, and once it finishes, you get a creepy phone call that whispers "...seven days..." and then people start looking all smeary when someone takes a photo of them but by the time the week is over they're dead? Yeah, it kinda does... except you can't borrow a dvd from the office. (referencing The Ring, if it wasn't clear)

• Might there be alligators on the property? There might. There damn sure are mosquitos. The mosquitos are epic. One almost flew away with me the other night. Or maybe that was one of the thousands of vultures. Did you know that vultures love oranges? Apparently they do.

• Is your cat going to keep you up all night letting you know about all the raccoons, squirrels, stray cats and other night creatures outside the windows? Unfortunately so.

This is not what we had envisioned. Having seen the cabins at our Home Park, we thought we were getting a light-filled living room with a large television, a full kitchen, a bathroom, a bedroom and a loft. Something with a small porch and lots of windows. Something that doesn't make you want to cry unless it is out of sheer happiness that your cabin is so cool. The first cabin they put us in was horrible, it was like an efficiency with wooden walls, so small we felt claustrophobic. At least this one is more spacious, but my fantasies about baking biscuits for breakfast and trying my hand at baking Cuban bread flew right out the window as soon as I saw the hot plates. Yes. Hot plates.

My computer screen is as big as our tv.

I am not amused.

The park wouldn't be bad if we were in our RV, it's quaint, it has trees and trails, the kind of things we like in a park. The town is small, I joke that it's WauCHUla - bless you (cuz I say it like a sneeze), and if you sneeze, you've missed it. And by the way, if you clicked on that link THOSE CABINS ARE NOT AT ALL LIKE THE ONE WE'RE STAYING IN.  Thankyouverymuch.

The 5'er will be in the shop for a minimum of two weeks if they can repair the fiberglass in sections, possibly a little less depending on the work load. If the whole ass end of the 5'er needs to be replaced, we could be looking at a month because they have to order that from Forest River and then it has to be shipped here. We already miss having our stuff with us and our own familiar space. And now we also have to figure out how to handle the family reunion at the end of the month... whether we drive down and drive back, or if Mike flies out by himself, or if we rent an RV... This sucks. Maybe we'll get lucky and they can spot repair the back and everything will run ahead of schedule. Surely we are owed some good luck for a change...

So in other news... after we dropped the RV off at Lazy Days, we had lunch at the Cracker Barrel just outside the gate. There was this little old lady who was having problems walking. She had a cane, but she was trying to carry a to-go box and a drink, so she wasn't using it, and her knee kept giving out. I felt bad for her so I helped her to her car... she almost fell at least five times... she had a granddaughter sleeping in the car - not a kid, someone close to my age... How the hell do you leave your grandma in the restaurant and go sleep in the car if you know she's that frail? And when we got to the car she didn't even get out, she just sat there and watched. People need to start acting right... she's everything that is wrong with this country.

We got to meet up with one of Mike's buddies this afternoon. He flew in from Miami to visit with us which was really nice of him to do. Really cool guy, he gave Mike a hard time and that's always fun for me to watch as I'm rarely able to get one over on him myself... I married a smartie and a smartass, it's an unfortunate mix sometimes, but he keeps me on my toes for sure. After that we went to Charlotte's Web (if you click on the site be aware that it has sound) and had a couple of bloody marys... the drink that is also a snack. It was the best BM I've ever had... hahaha. They put horseradish in it and garnished it with a pepperoncini and an olive. We smell like smoke now and I can barely stand myself... but it was a fun place, cool people, and the BM's were only $2/ea.

So tomorrow we'll probably visit a local bike shop... find a winery... there is a castle in the area... and there is a wildlife refuge in the area that we're going to attempt to visit (they only give tours twice a month so it depends on our luck). I don't know, but Florida makes me tired... I didn't used to be able to sleep past 7 or 8 am... now I'm lucky to get my ass out of my before 10 or 11 am. Mike is an early riser so he is very patient with me, and sometimes I get breakfast out of the deal. :)

Pictures:

A black swan. For real, none of that ballerina bullshit.

Peace River. Now sing that to the tune of Moon River and you are privy to my private hell.

Eek! Alligator! Oh. Hello Mr. Lizard.

If this doesn't give you a warm fuzzy, I don't think you're capable of human emotion.

Kinda looks like a quilt patter in the sky. Hello Nancy!

Attack of the yellow butterflies.

Cool flower ball Mike found.

It's weird to me to run across a forest of palm trees.

Roots.

Looking up a palm tree. And so the series of palm tree photographs I began in the early 2000's finally regains momentum...

Bunny rabbit!

Is it just me or does this tree remind anyone else of that demented bunny from Donnie Darko?

But the back is even cooler.

Angel hair.

Pretty hawks. We see them flying by all the time. Mike finally caught them on film.

A cardinal flirted with me.

We have critters in our cabin. Or perhaps we are bored. Anyway... there is a parrot...

... a goose looking up at the sky...

... and a squirrel... and I swear there is also a bass, but when I photographed him, he didn't look much like a fish after all...

Vulture anyone?

Mmmmm... dead armadillo... it's what's for dinner.

Colin coming in for a landing.

When did we start hanging out with tall people?

Do you really want to go here for service?

Florida hates white people... cracker hunts? Really? It's almost as funny as The Cracker Plantation Restaurant... I don't make this stuff up, I really don't...

0068 - Rollin'

Today we got the truck back. It now has six new tires, new shocks, a new map sensor, and most of the fluids and have flushed and replaced. We replaced the brakes in Tennessee and had some recall work done. It rides so much better now, or maybe it's because there is less weight to our wallets... We get compliments on Rammy everywhere we go; people tell us it's a nice truck or comment on the Resistol package. We have to admit, we have been extremely pleased with it. We were also really happy with the shop here in Florida, McGee Auto Service and Tires in Zephyrhills. The manager was awesome, a great guy who loves his job and loves to joke around. I told Mike that would be a great place to work just because people love what they do and the atmosphere is pleasant.

After that we attempted to visit the orange grove around the corner... but they are closed until October. It's a trend we're noticing. So we went straight to Florida Estates, another local winery. You have to pay $3.50 if you want to taste all their wines, but if you want just two samples it's free. We liked their Spice wine the best, it was a little sweet with a cherry flavor that goes really well with chocolate... excuse me... it pairs well with chocolate. *cough* Their unique wine was a key lime, it's part key lime, part grape, not sweet, not exactly dry either. They also had an orange wine, but I am so addicted to Stonehaus' tangerine that this couldn't compete.

Next it was on to Villa Verde. One of the sales clerks at a western wear store we visited told us about this place and we tried to go... only to find out that it was another one of those places with odd hours... it is not open until 4 pm, and it is open Wednesday thru Saturday. I have to say, it was worth the wait. We were very happy with our meal. They didn't have the first entree I wanted so I made an offhanded remark that what I really wanted was chicken piccata, and she had the chef make if for me. They make their own pasta, which is so far superior to pre-made that it's almost a different thing entirely. The oil they serve with the bread was nice and garlicky, had almost a feta flavor to it. Dessert was delicious, a chocolate cake that wasn't overly sweet, just the right dry/creamy mix. And they had sangria. We seem to be very into sangria.

Speaking of food, yesterday we ate at Stonewood Grill & Tavern... it reminded me of a hybrid of my favorite restaurant in Austin (North by Northwest Brewery) and a restaurant we loved in Louisville (Red Star... which no longer exists). We had a bleu cheese and potato chip appetizer, then Mike had mahi with a citrus basil manhattan, and I had sirloin with bleu cheese-horseradish butter and a strawberry-rhubarb mojito... followed by an orange cake with creamsicle frosting... the meal was amazing. Half mine came home with me to enjoy tomorrow... I try to bring half of most of my meals home if I can, and we split dessert (if we get it at all).

Now we're home... ready for more wine and more Big Love. :) Take that as you will.

RV Tip while I'm thinking of it... a couple, actually. We had some dead space above our cabinets, and it was the perfect place to store extra rolls of paper towels and toilet paper. I bought flats at the office supply stores, so we had a lot and haven't had to buy any since we moved in. Anyway, a tension bar for the shower has pretty well kept it all in place as we travel. (see picture below)

Tip number 2 (irony, I love it), the fan in the bathroom... it's awesome if you have it going while you're using the bathroom... when I'm putting on makeup, if I close the door and have the fan on, it sucks cool air under the door and makes it nice. It helps a lot with humidity even if we only run it for a short time. And if you're going to the bathroom, it makes air freshener fairly unnecessary... just don't EVER leave it on once you start to flush the toilet or it will suck sewer gases into the bathroom... and you will never get that smell memory out of your nose... It's kind of subtle at first, like you imagined it, and then BAM! the whole trailer undergoes a transformation. So... remember that, it's important. :)

Tomorrow I'm going to call Lazy Days and schedule our RV service. Now that Mike's job is done we don't have a specific geographic location we have to be close to, so we will just bite the bullet and stay at the Extended Stay near Lazy Days. They accept pets, and they give discounts to customers of Lazy Days. We're thinking that we should visit Gator World and maybe Busch Gardens while we're in the area. I'm probably going to hold off on Harry Potter until I can find someone who wants to go... it's more fun that way, and I keep thinking of all the Muggle children that are out of school at the moment... I hate crowds, so maybe I'll go in the fall when I have airline miles and it's now so new anymore.

Haven't been taking many pics, but here is what we have:

Our paper goods setup in the wasted space above the cabinets. We can't keep anything heavy and unwieldly up there, but it works for paper. Right now the moisture absorbent jug is sitting up there as well. We don't collect a lot of water from it, so that's good, hopefully it means we're doing a good job of managing the humidity.

The sky in Florida does some crazy things. Two things I noticed... the donut hole shaped cloud... and the contrast between the rain and the downpour.

Birds perch on the lights and towers around here a lot. There were two but one is mostly behind the other. I'm still sick that I didn't get a pic of the huge bird that swooped down in the woods in front of me last week...

Like a rainbow in the dark...

Sun behind the clouds always fascinates me.

Clouds almost look like smoke behind the trees.

Moo cows looking indignant.

Crane.

Shy turtle.

 Mike's closeup... his camera is better than mine... I'm jealous. Then again, it comes with its own set of complications... so I guess it equals out to some extent.

0067 - Blah

Yesterday my throat got a little sore and I had a low-grade fever... just enough to put a damper on my day. If I moved around a lot, I felt sluggish, and I slept until noon so I should have felt better than that. As a result, we stayed home all day and didn't do a whole lot of anything aside from laze about, chat, watch tv, and have pasta night. I've been watching Big Love... As I've mentioned, we're pretty limited here, it's either network tv or HBOGo.com so I'm working my way through series I haven't previously seen. I had no idea what Big Love was about, but as it turns out, it's an interesting show... very thought provoking.

I've watched the reality show Sister Wives and found it fascinating how all the wives interacted with each other, and some of the trials and tribulations of a polygamist lifestyle. It's definitely not a choice I would make, I don't like to share and I don't think it's what marriage was intended to be, but to each their own. They're a likable bunch who don't seem to be hurting anyone. So anyway, after watching the reality version of polygamy, it was interesting to watch a fictionalized version and see some parallels (and a few differences) between the two.

Big Love, of course, it far more dramatic and broader in scope because it is left up to the writer's imaginations and they can draw from reality and take it in whatever direction they choose. Season one had a very interesting plot line between the patriarch of the family of main characters (Bill), and the "prophet" of the compound some of them left (Roman). It was a good yin and yang and you hated the old man, thought he was a dirty bastard, but his character was so interesting that you didn't want him to go away because the conflict brought excitement to the show. Harry Dean Stanton did a great job in the role. Bruce Dern also did a fabulous job of being someone you love to hate, just a worthless individual (he played Bill's father).

In the show, their family didn't start out as polygamist so the wife struggles with it a lot and I think that in a lot of ways, the fictionalized version of polygamy is more honest than the reality show. Cody's family gets along too well... not all the time, but the majority of the time they are far more understanding than most people would be. It may well be true that they are that well adjusted, but what I'm saying is that I can't believe all polygamists are. I don't think they are representative of the majority. In Big Love, people don't always get along, the man of the house is like a stud horse and you see the toll a schedule like that could take on a man, there is jealousy between wives because he has a different relationship with each of them, and often it is the most recent wife who gets the brunt of that, there is resentment for the first wife because she's got legal rights and more status, there is tension because Bill is married to one of the prophet's daughters and her loyalties are tested on a regular basis there are money issues, there is the problem of hiding who you are from the rest of society, the problem of being a second and third wife and never being acknowledged by your husband outside of the home, the fact that polygamy is illegal... it goes on and on.

So why would anyone choose that life? I have no answer for that. Every time I think I do, I find myself with a rebuttal. For instance, my first thought is that the men found a loophole that lets them play the field without being penalized. But then... they have to take responsibility for the additional women and children. And in many ways, they get no peace because there are several families placing demands on them rather than just one. So that doesn't really explain it in most cases, in fact it seems like a reason not to do it.

How do these newer religions like the polygamist sect of Mormons, or Scientologists come about? Or rather, when they come about, why are people so naive that they latch on to those beliefs? I actually read some of Dianetics out of curiosity, and it was one of the most ridiculous things I've ever read in my life. The idea that some of your personality quirks come from being in the womb and hearing your parents having sex, or your mom screaming during the birthing process is ludicrous - especially when you don't even have ears yet and are surrounded by amniotic fluid. Or that you can remember any of it. And from what I recall, it's not your dad's fault, it's always your mom's fault. It's interesting how Mormon polygamy is the only religion that is illegal, at least that I can think of. I think it's less the plural marriage than it is the marriage of underaged girls to old men... prophets... on the compounds, but I'm not sure the law differentiates. I know the law only recognizes the marriage to the first wife and considers the rest adultery, which I suppose is also illegal? I don't know if it is or not. I also know that non-polygamist Mormons look down on the practice, too - it makes the whole religion look bad.

I think it's disgusting when people do things behind the guise of a religion (the underage marriage to lecherous old men)... but religion is misused and abused in many ways... it is used to start wars, it is used to pilfer money from people, it is used a political tool, it is used to hide the abuse of children, it is used as a way to impose morals upon people (I'm not talking about things like don't murder and don't steal... I'm talking about the choice of who to marry, the choice to use birth control... thing that should be regulated by individuals, not by churches or laws). That's not what it was intended to be. That's why many people want nothing to do with organized religion, in some ways it has become a farce... corrupted... manipulated.

I'm not saying religion is a bad thing, churches are full of good people who do good deeds, but you can't turn a blind eye to the fact that it can be abused. Religion is an easy way to control people, because they don't want to go against the word of the church, so people come along with ideas like polygamy, like signing all your possessions over to the church, like going to war, and they will always find a willing flock. Each religion gets to say "I'm right, and you're wrong," and yet many times they hold similar beliefs. That's my beef with it.

I am probably going to catch some flack from my opinions, but that's how I see it. There are two sides to every coin, just because I point out the bad doesn't mean I don't see the good.

0066 - Time off

Yesterday we visited another winery. They're all different in the way they present themselves, the wines they produce, the size of their operation... each one is unique and I like trying them out. This time it was Strong Tower in Spring Hill. They had watermelon wine, which was strangely like the muscadine we got from Del Monaco in Tennessee, same sort of earthy flavor with a honey finish. In short, I loved it. That is hands down my favorite. They have several wines that are delicious... strawberry... white muscadine and red... They grow their own grapes on the grounds and outsource the other fruits from local organic farms. You can actually pick musadines by the pound, but just as we arrived... another storm. Last couple of days we've had big thunderstorms with lightning strikes rather than the showers we usually get. I also liked the Springhill Red with (and without) mulling spices. Instead of serving it hot, they serve it chilled (summertime anyway). It was delicious.

I never used to like wine. I think I was exposed to a very dry red the first time and it turned me against wine completely. My friend Robin always loved wine, that was her thing. She was the first to expose me to it again. For years I would try it from time to time, preferring white wine to red, and sweeter wines over dry, but I didn't really appreciate it until my friend Debra's birthday. We went to Messina Hoff and it was such a fun day that it changed my perspective a bit. Last year, Mike and I decided we were going to start trying different wines, and it has been fun to experiment. He knows more about them than I do, I'm a novice. Maybe if we get to California we'll do a wine country tour. In the meantime I'm enjoying all the local wineries along the way.

I still don't have a palate for it... I can't call out the individual components of the wine... the spices, the fruits... I just know if I like it or not. I haven't gotten the hang of which wine is which... I know pinot grigio has a very limey taste. I know I like Reisling. And Haak's Blanc du Bois. Other than that I take my chances and seem to prefer fruit wines and sangrias.

Earlier this evening I stalked a herd of deer. I wish they would come out when the light was good... but they come out at dusk, so my camera is fighting a losing battle. There was one brave deer that stuck around after most of the herd ran away. I didn't get terribly close, my shoes magnify the sound of the grass crunching underfoot, and with their big ears I'm sure it doesn't even take that to clue them in to my presence... plus I was wearing perfume. Still, I have to admire his tenacity, to hear me coming, look at me and decide I'm not a threat. And... I'm not a threat, most animals seem to sense that.

This morning there was a knock on the door and a lady invited us to play botchi ball. They play three times a week. It was very nice of her to invite us to join in. We were headed out this morning, but if we're here on Monday I may take her up on it, just because I appreciate the invitation. A lot of places around here are 55+ and seem cliquish in that respect. I've always hung out with people older than me, and somehow, becoming an adult has meant that I have friends of all ages.

We're trying to move toward Orlando early next week. Still want to take the RV to the same place we originally intended, but maybe we can find a park with cabins on that side of Florida. Plus I want to be able to do things like Busch Gardens and Gator World. I still want to see The Wonderful Wizarding World of Harry Potter... Mike doesn't, so I'm trying to coerce a friend into taking a vacation and joining me. He'll do it, but it's not as much fun if the person you're with isn't interested. Also have friends in Cape Canaveral and would love to be able to see them while we're here.

Speaking of which, with our timeshare, if you want to come out and visit us, we can probably get you a good deal on lodging. We don't always know where we'll be in advance, but if you can do a spur of the moment trip, we'd love to be able to meet up with our friends and family along the way. I know we'll be in Shreveport at the end of August for a family reunion. After that, probably Arizona or southern California. I've also heard talk of Oregon and Washington. It's hard to say... but yeah... there are many possibilities. :)

0065 - Pictures

Because you can never have too many dragonflies, cranes or deer...

Mike might get a day off tomorrow, which means a trip to the winery and maybe some interesting pics of something other than dragonflies, cranes or deer. :)

Mike took most of these.

Gorgeous sunrise

I got this one, the rest of mine were blurry... it was dusk and my camera was uncooperative.

Back to Mike :)

I can only guess that he was playing around with macro mode, hahaha

So... this is pretty much what I see all day... a lot of dragonflies...

The three witches... they flew by this afternoon, that was sobering...

Rain so hard it creates a waterfall off the eaves, and steam... because it wouldn't be Florida if there wasn't humidity later...

Gracie-poo...

And Mike comes home about sunset.

See you tomorrow, it's time to put my husband to bed. I might get to see the jobsite tomorrow. We have driven by it a couple of times, but the job is finally done and there are only a few loose ends to tie up.

0064 - The Days March On

I find little ways to keep busy... somehow that makes the time pass a little more quickly. Yesterday's projects were to change the linens, do laundry, and clean up the area around the dining room table as that's where all the crap tends to collect. It's where things go to die. I also went through the shred pile and cut out only the things that actually need to be shredded so I could toss the rest into the garbage. I talked in an earlier post about reducing weight... doing things like that reduce weight, significantly in some cases, but truth be told, it was more about keeping myself occupied. Mission accomplished. One more day of sanity... some may argue that, but seriously... I didn't go insane...

Mike got to come home a little early yesterday so we went to dinner. I chose randomly again, and this time came up with a winner. It was Mexican. I may have a problem... an addiction... Los Vallarta, is about ten miles down the road from us. We lucked out in more than one respect - there was a shopping center nearby and it had a Dick's Sporting Goods, which in turn had a rainsuit and boot dryer that Mike has been looking for. Dinner was tasty, so were the margaritas... I have missed a good margarita. Last one I had tasted like frozen Gatorade. Disgusting.

Today went a little slowly. It rained again... a hard rain for a short period of time. Saw the three witches walk by. Watched tv (thank goodness for cable networks that make things available on the internet). Yawn. Then Mike came home a little early again, and the rain started in earnest... thunder, lightning, sheets of rain... four hours later and it's still raining, albeit with less gusto.

Spoke to my dad briefly today. And my friend Debra. Learned that one of my friends is probably about to start the same journey we're on, living in an RV and traveling. He makes leather goods so he and his wife are going to go to Ren Fairs and bike rallies. I think he'll like it and with his line of work it will probably open a few doors.

Also saw the trailer for my friend Michelle's movie, it will be premiering on the Lifetime Movie Network on August 31st and it looks amazing, it's called The Preacher's Daughter. She wrote and directed it. I can't wait! I was a little worried that I might not have access to cable at the time, but then I went to the LMN website and they have movies you can watch so worst case scenario, I hope I can watch it there. We're supposed to be in Louisiana for Mike's family reunion at that point, so maybe we can make it into an event. In the meantime, I learned that she has always wanted to direct a musical... which is ironic, because once upon a time I started a screenplay that was supposed to be a musical. Maybe that's my motivation to get back to it. I just got a little stuck but whenever I go back and read it I don't hate it. Which is a good sign...

We're probably here for another week or so... I am ready to move on. There's just nothing here. I would like to meet up with my friends Sandy and Rene, and then head north. I hate being next to the maintenance building, it's noisy. I'm running out of things to photograph, not that the last few days have been particularly impressive in that respect. Speaking of which, the hawk flew by my window this afternoon... taunting me... I saw the perfect perch, but who knows if it ever goes there.

Need to figure the mail situation out. If we're going to be here for another week I can probably have the post office forward it to us, or maybe I need to check out a service that will do it. At first it didn't make sense, but 2-3 weeks at a time without mail kind of sucks. We won't always be in a position to receive it, but once a week or so would be nice. Right now we're waiting on a couple of refunds, so it's a little more important. :)

So that's the last couple of days in a nutshell. I'm sure tomorrow will be just as exciting...

0063 - Early Sunday Morning

Remember how I talked to the lady in the office about the sirens, and I was only supposed to be concerned if I heard the five short bursts? Well, guess what happened at 4 am? If you guessed that we were awakened by five short bursts of the siren, you win the prize. It's more than a bit disconcerting to wake up that way, especially when it's pitch black out because you're basically blind. Then it occurred to me that if there was a tornado out there... there is nowhere to go. Most of the parks we've stayed in have bathroom and/or laundry facilities, so that's where people would go. This one doesn't have those things available. There is a maintenance building close by, but it is locked. The fire station is fairly close, I don't know if it's open or not. There is a community hall, and during the day the back door is open... it would take a couple of minutes to run to it, and it's probably locked after dark.

All in all, we still don't know why it went off. I looked out the windows... of course I saw nothing... I looked at the weather info on my phone... nothing... turned on the tv and found a weather station... nothing. So eventually we managed to fall asleep again.

The whole night I slept sporadically. I remember a couple of different episodes of Psych, a show I've never seen before but is so fun to watch. Then there was a Keanu Reeves movie where he was fighting demons... the most interesting thing about that was a new Puscifer song, or if not Puscifer, something by Maynard from Tool. Then there was an infomercial for something, and at that point I turned the tv off.

So about an hour and a half after the siren went off, it was time for Mike to get up. I told myself when we started this journey that I was going to get up in the mornings to see him off... cook breakfast, pack snacks, make a lunch, what have you. I haven't been doing that. Instead I stay in bed, and he comes and kisses me goodbye on his way out. This morning I decided to get up and see him off. It is nice to just have little moments together, and something as simple as putting snacks into containers is quality time that I enjoy.

I made good on the promise I made to myself yesterday - I walked to the front of the park and started making my way down the road to see if there was anything picture worthy out there. About that time it started to rain. Unbelievable. Every damn day. So I turned around and noticed that it wasn't raining in the park yet. I scouted out a few places to take cover should that situation change, and decided to soldier on. I hadn't explored the golf course so I went down one of the paths... nothing interesting there. I hadn't explored the woods behind us, so I went back that way. There was a large hawk that swooped down and flew pretty close to me but my camera wasn't ready... so no pictures of that... I hate all the great shots I've missed by a millisecond. Also saw a raccoon peeking out from the corner of the maintenance building, but didn't get a picture of that either.

This is all I got:

Rain clouds... every day they blanket the sky.

Interesting side road I didn't get to explore.

More twisty roots.

Giant beehive in the woods behind us. I didn't hear any buzzing so I figured it was safe to take my time. This thing is probably as big as a human torso.

Cool old tree.

This just looked cool... like cotton almost.

Sunset on the lake.

They've started cleaning up the garden a bit. Not that you can tell from this picture... this is just a pretty plant.