Amy's Rear View Mirror

Florida ...
Christmas and New Year's
12/15 - 1/2

12/15 – 12/26 Westville, FL

We left Caddo Mills TX Friday morning, Dec 15^th,taking I-20 east to Marshall TX hoping to see their Christmas light display known as Wonderland of Lights. When we arrived we discovered that the storm that moved through the area a few days before had taken down many trees and power lines. The power outages had caused several of the campgrounds to close – including the one we were going to stay in – and there was an electricity conservation order in effect until all power was restored. Needless to say, many of the lights on the Wonderland of Lights tour weren’t on, but we drove the tour route and saw what we could. We’ll have to go back there another year to see it … it’s supposed to be spectacular.

Saturday Dec 16^th we continued on our journey to Westville FL. In Shreveport LA we took I-49 south and drove through some of the worst winds yet … the awning kept trying to come unrolled and we had to keep stopping for Jim to fix it. Thanks to Michael Stamp, Jim had tied the awning arms with some electrical ties when we left Caddo Mills or we would have lost the awning for sure. Each time we stopped Jim perfected how the awning was tied to the motorhome a little more … after about 3 stops he got secure enough the wind wouldn’t hurt it as we completed our drive through Louisiana. We arrived at Mary’s, Jim’s mother, house around supper time.

Throughout the week we still had to work during the day and borrowed Mary’s phone line to get connected.

Christmas Eve Day we went Sabie’s, Mary’s sister, house to visit with her family and have dinner with them. Sybil, another one of Mary’s sisters, and her husband Marvin also showed up. It was a great day of visiting and catching up.

Late in the afternoon Jim’s friend, Bud, arrived at Mary’s house to visit with us on his way to his family. After supper Jim, Bud & I drove down to Panama City to visit with Dana, Bud’s daughter. We spent the evening at Donna’s, Dana’s mother, house sharing their Christmas Eve traditions. It was really great to see Dana – it had been several years.

Christmas morning was busy with cooking … everything was completed and set out by 10 AM. Family members came and went throughout the day … all 4 of Jim’s brothers and their families except the few who were working or were home sick. Sabie, Sybil and Marvin stopped by also. It was a houseful of people!

12/26 – 12/29 Crystal River, FL

After eating waaaayyyyy too much we headed down to Crystal River to spend a few days with Ed & Ruth Pallan. We stayed at Encore Crystal Isles which was really great! Large, grassy sites, some on the canal, a clubhouse with many tables and chairs, a game room with a modem connection, magazines, books, puzzles and a poker table. Jim and I spent some quality hours in the game room on their phone line working during the day. We had a wonderful few days visit with the Pallans when we weren’t working.

12/29 – 1/2/01

We arrived at Frog Creek Campground in Palmetto FL on Friday afternoon. We met Bill & Sandy Dwinell and their neighbors. We all shared a pot luck supper each evening, but did our own thing during the day.

On Saturday some of us went to De Soto National Memorial which commemorates Spanish explorer Hernando de Soto, who landed on the southwest Florida coast in 1539. With an army of 600 soldiers, Soto had come to the new world with a license from the King of Spain to explore, colonize and pacify the Indians of the area known as "La Florida". The expedition faced many hardships throughout the four-year, 4000-mile journey. Programs at the park explain the prevailing 16th century Spanish cultural values and the inevitable clash with the native cultures the expedition encountered. This expedition was the first large scale European mission into the interior of North America. Survivors of the expedition reported the abundance of rich natural resources found in "La Florida". We would have liked to walk the nature trail, but the wind was blowing pretty good and that made it too cold.

Sunday I had to work most of the day. Monday we just hung out in the campground visiting with each other all day.