Homestretch

We are home y’all! It kind of feels like we orbitted down to Key Largo and then were flung back home, and suddenly, here we are. But it wasn’t really like that. We had adventures all along the way, not the least of which was the beautiful and diverse country we passed through, and the many fascinating bridges we crossed.

I was especially taken with our drive through the Everglades. The marshy water sometimes lapped up to the road. We passed Indian Villages that piqued my curiousity, and did you know that there are panthers in the Everglades?

Our long drive up the other side of Florida facilitated a stop at a wonderful Quilt store in Holiday, Fl, where I found some treasures! On to stay the night at another Harvest Host spot in the panhandle, Southern Grace Lavendar Farms. This was a lovely spot in the midst of a depressed area. There were three other RV’ers there that night and after buying some of their great products we enjoyed a chat with some of them around a campfire. These are some of their animals:

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Our next stop: New Orleans. We ate dinner at Mambos, on Bourbon Street. Through the open balcony doors a cacophany of blaring music intruded on the lovely dinner. Looking down on the street, I watched a boy drumming on buckets and provocative pictures flashing across the street in a window. I don’t know the boys’ story–and there were many of them up and down the street. I just felt…sad.

The next day we made it early to Cafe Du Monde, the oldest coffee shop in the USA, for the classic coffee and beignet. To our delight, a group of guys serenaded us with street jazz; trumpets, trombones, tubas and a gravelly, Louis Armstrong type singer kept us tapping our toes for sure! Later, we did a walking food and history tour of the French Quarter. Lots of yummy food and interesting history!

To break up the drive from New Orleans to Clarksville, Tennessee, we stopped at our last Harvest Host of this trip, the Sullivan Ranch in Alabama, where they raise the Armerican version of Wagyu beef. It was such a beautiful place, rolling, green hills and so wonderfully quiet after New Orleans.

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We landed in Clarksville to celebrate Thanksgiving with the Fickens. The twins are now 4 months old and showing more and more personality. The two-year-old kept us in stitches! The four and five year olds are so much fun, and so smart! What a blessing to spend time with this precious family, and be part of their Christmas decorating as well.

From Clarksville to Tulsa and home. What a fantastic trip. And what a joy to be home!

God bless! Eyes on Jesus!