Life returns to "normal"

Hi Everybody,

We arrived home about 7:30 PM on Monday.  As we turned the corner onto Lakewood Drive, we could see Noah and Matthew (2 of our grandsons) waving and running on the road near our driveway.  Mike was driving and instead of pulling into our driveway, Dave told him to pull alongside the road.  Mike and I stated that we thought it looked pretty soft.  Dave said that it looked okay to him so we drove onto the grass and promptly got stuck up to the hubcaps!  The tilt of the RV was scary but we managed to open the door and climb out.  Our neighbor Pat, along with Andy and Angela, Luke, Katy, NOah and Matthew welcomed us home with pizza.  It was great to be here!

Mike and Paula stayed overnight and Dave drove them back to Iowa on Tuesday.  It was hard to say goodbye after the weeks we had spent together.  Dave left me with instructions to empty the holding tank of fresh water in order to lighten the weight in the RV.  I started some preliminary unpacking and LAUNDRY.  When Dave got back from Iowa, he, Meg and I unhitched the trailer and got it stored temporarily on the parking pad.  

Wednesday morning Dave hitched our truck to the back of the RV and pulled it out of the ditch.  It came out easily but the tracks are ugly.  Now it is sitting in the driveway next door.  I spent half the day cleaning the bedroom and bathroom in the RV.

Today, Thursday, I finished cleaning the RV.  Seemed like cleaning an entire house!  Dave will get it washed on the outside soon so that we can return it to the Smiths.  What a blessing it was to have it as our support vehicle.  It was very comfortable and provided us with a good "motel" each night.

We attended choir practice last night and I went to Bible Study on Tuesday.  Little by little the stacks of mail and stuff from the RV are getting smaller.  The paper recycler may reject us next week for too much stuff!!

Thanks so much for following us as we traveled.  The phone calls and emails kept us connected.  Keep the donations coming.  There is no stop time for that!

Love and blessings,

Lana

Addenda to "The End"

Hi Everybody,

Not too many details today just lots of miles on the RV.  We left St. Augustine at 6:30 AM.  We traveled the length of Georgia (land of boiled peanuts, pecans, and peaches) and then into Tennessee.  We skirted Chattanooga and enjoyed the beautiful scenery (rolling hills, mountains, valleys), drove around Atlanta without too much trouble, and on into Crossville, TN on our way to Fairfield Glade to have supper with Ann and Howard Swan.  We had to unhitch the trailer at this "RV spot" and put it down the street.  The RV is in Swan's driveway with the back end up on blocks so high the tires are off the ground!  We are sleeping in the RV tonight.  

It is good to have gained an hour as we are back into Central Daylight Savings Time.  Howard says he will fix us breakfast in the AM and we will be on our way north.  

Thanks for the wonderful emails today.  Great to hear from so many of you.  I have enjoyed writing these little blogs each day.  I will miss it as much as you have said that you will.  My notes in my journal are getting pretty sketchy now, so it must be time to quit.  

Goodnight from Tennessee!

Love and blessings,

Lana

 

Anastasia State Park and the Atlantic Dip

Hi Everybody,

Dave and I started with breakfast on the beach with David and Gloria Botten (Paula and Mike stayed back to walk on the beach).  After breakfast the Bottens and the Runyans drove north a ways to a lovely farmers market and walked among the vendors.  Felt just like being with Meg at one of her markets.  We then came back to the RV park to get Paula and Mike and the motorhome and trailer to drive up to Anastasia State Park for the ceremonial wheel dipping.  We waited until 1:50 and then the guys started their ride through the parking lot, onto a boardwalk out to the beach.  The first sand was too soft to ride on so they carried their bikes until we reached the hardpacked sand.  Then they rode into the water.  They lifted the bikes high into the air in victory.  Mike put his bike down and walked into the ocean.  Dave got into a conversation with a family who had been watching all of this.  Then we noticed a couple coming toward us and, lo and behold, they were CFO people from the North Florida camp who had read the emails from the CFO office.  Joe and Bonnie Trauerman had been looking for us and when the guys raised their bikes in the air they figured they had found us.  What a wonderful surprise.

We visited for a while, walked back to the parking lot, and packed up.

Thanks to Walt and Veba Clark and Bob Ream who called us just as we were getting to the beach.  Thanks to all of you who have emailed, called, prayed, sent good thoughts, and donated to the cause.  It is not too late to contribute.  You can go to the website for instructions on how to contribute on-line or mail a check directly to Harlan Glover, 120 Indian Village Rd., Shapleigh, ME 04076 made out to CFOI, with Pedal 4 Peace in the memo.

The rest of the day was spent walking around old St. Augustine.  So much to see, lots of tourists, endless history tidbits and more, beautiful buildings both old and replicas, Flagler College which was built as an exclusive resort for the wealthy, and finally a delicious dinner at O.C. White's located right across from the marina and the Lions' Bridge.

We had to retrace our steps through town to the parking lot and then drove to Bottens for coffee.  They drove us back to the RV at 9 PM.  

We will leave early in the morning for Atlanta, Chattanooga, and Fairfield Glade, TN.  We will be at Ann and Howard Swan's for the night.  We should be in West Chicago late on Monday.

There's dancing in the street, wild celebrating, toasts to a great trip, confetti in the air, bands playing, and speeches made--at least in our heads.  It is with humble pride that we say thanks to God for safety and strength and for all the wonderful people along the way and at home.  We live in a beautiful, diverse country, and we have enjoyed a lot of it over the last six weeks.  

Love and blessings,

Lana

The End

Hi Everybody,

We woke up this morning to rain on the roof and thinking that the end of the ride would be like the beginning--wet.  However, by the time the guys were ready to ride, the rain had stopped and the sun was starting to shine.  We started on a state route to see how busy it was and when we got to the turn off to the more scenic route along the St. Johns River it was decided to ride that way.  Paula got her bike out and rode with the guys for about 12 miles.  It was very picturesque and we stopped in Riverdale Park along the river for lunch.  then it was on to St. Augustine.

What a charming and beautiful town but mobbed with tourists.  It was difficult maneuvering the RV and trailer down the narrow streets, finding the places to turn, and a place to park.  We finally drove back out of the middle of town and waited for the guys to catch up and decide just where to go to take pictures.  We finally met up in a bus parking lot and walked to the Castillo de San Marcos, a fort along the bay.  there is so much to see and do here--some of it is very touristy but with lots of history involved.  We hope to come back tomorrow to see some more.  We took pictures at the fort of the bikers at the end of the journey, although tomorrow we will take the bikes to the seaside to dip their wheels into the ocean.

We drove out of town and south along Highway 1 and then out to the beach communities.  In Ocean Beach we got into our RV park and then called our friends Dave and Gloria Botton who have just (Wednesday) moved down here from Concord, MA.  They drove over to pick us up and then back to the beach just out from their new house to celebrate the end of the journey with champagne.  It was so good to see them and they were excited to be able to welcome and congratulate us properly.  We then went back to their new home here in Ocean Beach in a community called Sea Colony.  They have not brought the majority of their belongings down yet, but have a table and chairs, some wicker furniture and a few other things.  Their home is so lovely and much larger than what they had in MA with large rooms, screened porch, open porch, a two-car garage with a full apartment over it, and great closets, sculptured hickory floors, beautiful fixtures, and nice landscaping.  We had a terrific enchilada dinner and will see them tomorrow for breakfast and the ceremonial wheel-dipping and touring St Augustine.  They are such wonderful people and what a gift to us that they are here.

Where have the last 6 weeks gone?  As we went through the pictures tonight with the Bottons it was such a blur.  It was hard to identify some of the scenery or remember the names of towns.  I am sure glad that we took lots of notes along the way.  Sure hope that they coincide with the pictures!  We are so thankful for all your prayers, emails and encouragement along the way.  With the internet and cell phones we always felt connected  with you.  We hope that you have visited the website and gotten more information about Camps Farthest Out, Camps Farthest Out International, and the United Prayer Tower.  

Love and blessings,

Lana

 

Wipe out!

Hi everybody,

Yep, Dave wiped out right in front of my eyes into the sand turning into the RV park tonight.  Paula and I had arrived first, of course, hooked up, set up, and cooked dinner.  No guys.  Finally Mike called and tried to describe to Paula where they were.  He kept asking her what landmarks she had seen along the way and she kept telling him she was watching for the RV park and hadn't noticed much.  He asked about a weigh station and we told him that we were beyond that about a mile or so.  Turns out they were about 2 miles past us and when I went out to the road to watch for them, I looked up the road and could see the weigh station only 500 yds. away!  Is it any wonder we sometimes can't find each other?  Anyway, Dave did not hurt himself.  Just got dirty.

The best was this morning as we pulled across an intersection right after the guys had gotten on their bikes.  I was driving and was going straight through the intersection.  Mike pulled up on my left, smiled and turned left followed by Dave.  I yelled out to Dave that they were going the wrong way and continued on.  Dave says they went a block before turning around.  However, in Gainesville, Paula and I got totally off the track and ended up on a detour, in a poor section of town, headed who knows where.  the directions were not clear in one area and in another the wrong street name threw us off.  It is just a little disconcerting driving our rig on neighborhood streets dreading the "Dead End" or "No Outlet" signs!  We often have to go a long distance out of the way to get turned around.  

Happily, we are enjoying a warm evening, our last outside of St. Augustine, all in the same place and still talking to each other.  

We crossed the St. John's River this afternoon.  Another spectacular bridge to photograph.  An easy day of about 40 miles tomorrow will put us in St. Augustine for the late afternoon and night.  We will ride up to Anatasia State Park Sat. morning.  That is where the bikes and bikers will enter the Atlantic.  Can't believe it!!  There is some discussion tonight whether or not to follow the bike route tomorrow.  A direct route is faster but heavily traveled and has a nice shoulder.  The bike route is more picturesque (not high on the bikers' agenda), has no shoulder, and is longer.  They will probably try the more direct route which initially is part of the bike route and see how busy it is.  If they feel like targets on the road, they will opt for the bike route.

Goodnight from East Palatka, FL.

Love and blessings,

Lana

 

"Way down upon the Swannee River"

Hi Everybody,

We are in High Springs tonight at one of the nicest places yet.  Lots of shade, great bathrooms/showers, efficient laundry, and friendly people.  One drawback, there is a dirt road along the front of the campground and the dust is tremendous.  We are in the front row so we get the brunt of it.  At least it is not a much traveled road.

Best part of the day:  we crossed the Suwannee River, made famous by Stephen Foster.  You may  have noticed the spelling is different than in the song.  Well, seems Mr. Foster needed a two syllable name of a river for his song and was afraid people would mispronounce this spelling so changed it.  By the way, he never ever saw the river.  Worst part of the day:  my camera batteries were both dead when I got out to take pictures of the river.  I took quite a lot of video and hope to get a still picture from that.  I guess you can guess that I am quite a fan of Foster's music and have always loved singing his songs.

Best part of the day:  we followed the bike route today and so got off the beaten track and into the rural areas of Florida.  Worst part of the day:  we got lost.  After we met up for lunch we started out for the next stop and went about 10 miles before we realized that we were in a town not on the route.  About that time Dave and Mike called to say that they were on the same route we were on but realized it was not the right one earlier.  They ended up riding about 15 miles farther than they had planned today.  We finally discovered that the mistake had been made right before we pulled off for lunch.

Only a couple of days left.  We will be in St. Augustine on Friday but won't go all the way to the ocean until Saturday.  Tomorrow is a relatively long day but there are so few places for us to stay overnight that we will have to ride further to find a campground.  Friday will be a really light day, we think.  We have thought that before and been mistaken in the end.

Hopefully we did our last large grocery shopping today.  We will be eating breakfast bars and drinking Gatorade on the trip home!!  We have eaten well all the time.  Paula has done most of the cooking and there has been a nice variety of meals.  You haven't lived until you have had a tortilla heated right on the gas burner by Mike Terrones.  "Torts" have been a staple this trip.  We are continuing to use Katy's smoothie maker but have not bought any more spinach.  We are using her flax seed, though.

Love and blessings,

Lana

bike shop, Starducks, and Monticello

Hi Everybody,

Another beautiful day!!  WE are off-route and using hwy 90 as we wend our way through north Florida.  tonight we are just south of Madison, FL and I-10 at Deerwood RV park.  It is a nice, shady spot with operating bathrooms and showers but no laundry.  Dave washed his clothes while still wearing them in the shower!  Desperate times call for desperate measures!

Dave has been having trouble the last couple of days with 2 of the lower gears on the bike so wanted to get to a bike shop as soon as possible.  On the way through Tallahassee which has at least 4 bike shops we chose one and stopped.  The repair took less than 10 minutes and they did not charge him a penny!!  

Tallahassee is the home of Florida State University which we drove past rather quickly.  It appears to be a very nice campus and accounts for much of the reason for the number of bike shops here.  We looked for the capitol building but missed it.

The highlight of the day was our visit to Monticello.  The county seat for Jefferson County is named for Thomas Jefferson and the town for Jefferson's well-known plantation.  The first place visited was Starducks, yes the "d" is correct.  There were little plastic ducks in a row on the counter all painted in clever designs.  The coffee was just as expensive as you know who's!

Then a walk onto the square and into The Peddler, an antique and craft place.  Some interesting stuff which, at my age, all looks too familiar from my childhood.  Then a little farther around the square and off a half block to a bakery (just closing) and into M'lady's Shop, an upscale women's clothing store.  The owner was outside watering window boxes and I stopped to chat.  Her name is Barbara Hughes and she has lived here most of her life.  She is 71 years old, attractive and every inch a southern lady.  We talked for over a half hour about our families, the south, racism, and the economy.  She felt like an old friend.

I took lots of pictures of the courthouse and Barbara and Starducks.  

The flowers are getting more profuse as the days grow warmer.  Between Monticello and Greenville, the next town, someone has planted azalea bushes at regular intervals along the highway.  The corridor produced by the tall pines and azaleas on either side of the road made for a very scenic ride.  

We are sad to have learned that our CFO friends here in Florida are now not able to greet us as we finish the ride.  We are hoping that our friends Dave and Gloria Botten, newly moved to St. Augustine, will be able to be there.  They are to arrive in Florida on Wednesday, April 7.  (Would someone let her daughter Tiffany know so that Gloria can call us.  I do not have an email address for them.)

Love and blessings,

Lana   

 

The last map #7

Hi everybody,

I know that the title may sound a little strange to some of you, but let me explain.  Our trip was arranged by Adventure Cycling and laid out in a series of maps stretching from San Diego to St. Augustine.  it is called the Southern Tier Route and features only the 8 states across the southern U.S.  The bike route appears in red and each map has 15 panels on it.  We move from one to fifteen before starting the next map.  Whether we choose to follow this route or not is up to us.  We have wavered a bit some days, but in general have followed their plan.  There are 7 maps all together and each time we have completed a map we celebrate.  At first we thought we would have a map burning, but decided we probably should keep them as souvenirs of the trip.  Well, today we started map #7 which takes us the rest of the way to St. Augustine.  Seems like a dream to look back at map # 1 or 2 and read the names of the towns we passed through or stayed in.  It's a long time since the 8 flats a day and the RV tire debacle.  We never know what awaits us as we start the day.

Today has been probably the most "boring" as far as any incidents.  The weather is the biggest news--hot and humid!  I think to Floridians this is just a nice spring day.  Feels like a late June or early Sept. day to us midwesterners.  We are camping in Gretna, FL, a little short of Tallahassee.  A couple of names I have heard all my life were on the map and up close and personal -- Appalachicola River and Chattahoochee.  Now for someone who likes words, just run those up and down your tongue a few times!!  Crossing the Appalachicola River put us into the Eastern Daylight Time Zone so now we are an hour ahead of our midwest fans, 2 hours ahead of Sheryl and Allen Monroe and others in the Colorado, New Mexico, Arizona, Nebraska area and 3 hours ahead of our California, Oregon, Washington people.  If there is anyone hooked into our network in Hawaii and those of you in Australia, Africa and UK, we are just hours ahead or behind!

Dave is "advertising" that he and Mike will put their front tires into the Atlantic Ocean at 2 PM on Saturday, April 10.  We hope to see a few of you there, if possible.  We will be in Anastasia State Park.  Just heard from a dear friend in West Chicago who grew up in the area that it is one of her favorite places on earth.  Now it will be one of ours!

Love and blessings,

Lana

Easter in DeFuniak Springs, FL

Hi Everybody,

Chirst is risen!! He is risen indeed!!  Our pastor emailed this message at 5:40AM today!!!

We have had a great day off.  We attended the First United Methodist Church of DeFuniak Springs this AM for the 11 o'clock service.  It was traditonal and seemed very much like home.  I have to say that it was a step above the Baptist church we attended as far as friendliness but not much.  The pastor and his wife were very friendly and one other couple were genuinely glad to welcome us but that was about all except for some "Happy Easters" and "Good Mornings", we felt like outsiders.  We really are learning first hand how important it is to welcome visitors.  Maybe if we were planning to live in the area they would be more friendly, but how do they know what our intention is when we just walk in off the street?  It is a lesson that I hope we have learned well.

We spent the afternoon walking around the lake in the middle of town and across the street from the church.  There are a number of antebellum homes facing the lake and the flowers and trees are beginning to burst into bloom so it was a gorgeous site.  I took lots of pictures and will send some along.  We had our "Easter dinner" in a gazebo on the lake--HAM sandwiches, pretzels, celery sticks and pop.  Tasted good!  We then drove to a Sonic and had ice cream!!  And I had my first chocolate in 6 weeks!!!  Oh, I forgot to say that the Easter Bunny found us here in Florida with baskets and eggs filled with candy and marshmallows for Mike and beef jerky for Dave!!!

Now I am sitting in the semi-darkness outside typing and waiting for the (wait for it.......wait for it.......) laundry to be finished!   It is a beautiful night and the tall pine trees sheltering our site are quiet for now but smell divine.  

Tomorrow we will start our final legs of the journey.  It looks right now as if we will be in St. Augustine on Friday evening or Saturday morning, depending on what the people meeting us here will be able to arrange.  We will be riding through Anastasia State Park to the Atlantic Ocean.  Come on down everyone!!!!

Only a few more days--can't believe it.

Love and blessings,

Lana

 

Humphrey Bogart in DeFuniak, FL!

Hi Everybody,

Woke up to clouds and fog this morning but the weather improved as the day went on.  Very warm and humid later in the day and the stars are out tonight so that looks good for tomorrow.

Dave and Mike biked from our campsite back into Milton this morning to make up some mileage that they missed way back west someplace.  Wouldn't want anyone to think that they didn't cover enough miles, you know!!  Some of the ride this morning was on an actual bike path instead of a road.  They said it was hilly and very scenic.  Paula and I saw lots of bikers on the highway we were on.  One group of about 20+ rode by with a police escort.  Another couple I talked to at the gas station in Holt, FL were out training for a 67 mile ride next weekend.  I have to mention that Paula and I are experts now on gas station bathrooms and coffee machines!  Chevron has the best coffee.  Won't comment on the condition of most of the bathrooms.  Most of the time we are not too particular!

We got to Crestview for lunch and were met by Lee, Susan, Courtney, and Cameron Kloos who drove up from  Niceville, FL to see us.  Susan is the daughter of my dear college friend Debbie Jansen and her husband Gene.  Lee is an Air Force fighter pilot based at Eglin Air Force Base flying F-16's.  He is transitioning to the F-35 this Fall.  Dave and I had not seen Susan since she was a little girl.  Our visit was short but so enjoyable.

the guys biked on to Ponce de Leon where we picked them up and drove back to DeFuniak for the night.  We are in a nice RV park but only 2 other groups are here.  Seems strange.  We are on a main highway south to the gulf beaches and there has been a steady stream of cars since we got here and the manager of the park says that it has been like that all day.  We decided to come back here because DeFuniak is a larger town and has a large Methodist Church.  Paula and I did a little driving around here earlier and the church is located on a lovely little lake in the middle of town with beautiful antebellum houses all around the lake.  We are anxious to walk around and maybe picnic near the lake tomorrow after church.

We decided to eat out tonight and went to what looked on the outside to be a casual, downhome type eating place.  Bogey's (yes, after Humphrey Bogart) turned out to be quite upscale and moderately expensive with linen cloths and napkins, live music, quite formal in atmosphere and clientele.  We hesitated at the door but the hostess was very friendly and assured us that we were welcome.  Her son-in-law is the chef and the food was delicious, right down to the homemade key lime pie!!

Pictures of all the 40's and 50's movie stars lined the walls with "Bogey" being the most prominent.  We decided that this would be our Easter dinner!!

Thinking of home tonight and all the Easter preparations.  Good luck to the men and the breakfast tomorrow morning and to the youth as well.  Pastor has sent his sermons for tomorrow and for last Sunday so we can feel more connected to you all. Ron called to say how nice the Seder meal was and how well the choir did.  Judi reported on the Tenebrae service and said that it was inspirational as usual.  We send our blessings as you praise the risen Savior tomorrow.

It is nice to have the windows open on the motorhome tonight.  We are in a pine grove and the smell is divine.

Love and blessings,

Lana 

FLORIDA!!! State # 8

Hi Everybody,

The bikers started out back at the ferry landing today at 8:10.  It was a beautiful day along the coastline of Alabama and Florida.  We love all the houses on stilts along the white sand beaches.  Many are painted in pastel colors looking like Easter eggs along the way.  

Dave's finger is doing well.  He says that it doesn't even throb.  Later tonight we will unwrap it and see how it looks.  I won't be able to resist taking a picture so be forewarned.  We are hoping to find no infection and just a nice row of 9 stitches.  I did take a picture of him with the  finger out of his bike glove and sticking straight out as he rode off.

We were not able to find a Good Friday service anywhere close so I feel kind of disconnected from Holy Week events.  Ron called and filled me in on the service at the Lutheran Church last night for the Seder meal.  I bought baskets, plastic eggs, and candy for Sunday for us and we will make every effort to get to a service somewhere.

We are in a KOA campground tonight with a lovely sunset seen through the tall pines.  We are just off HWY 10 in Milton, FL.

The remaining days are down to single digits.  Wow!!  Dave has a gear that isn't working so we will visit a bike shop in Tallahassee in 2 days, actually 3 since Sunday is a day off.  We haven't darkened a bike shop door since Texas.  Hope that statement won't jinx it.

This is short and you are probably glad.  You have all been so gracious with your comments.  thanks again for the encouragement, thoughts, prayers and contributions.

Love and blessings,

Lana.

The Accident

Hi everyone,

Well, today broke our track record of no accidents.  Thank goodness it was not on a bicycle on the road, but an accident nonetheless.  You remember yesterday I told you that the jack on the trailer broke and now we have to prop the trailer up with the car jack.  Well, when Mike and Dave were attaching the trailer to the RV, Dave's left index finger got pinched between the trailer tongue and the jack. (Sorry, kids, I did not describe it correctly before.)  He came into the RV to run some cold water over his finger and Paula and I took one look and said "That looks serious".  "It's not so bad", said Dave!!!  Nurse Paula and MIke said, "That needs stitches!"  Dave went online and found the nearest Urgent Care to be in Gulf Shores, 20 miles away AFTER we crossed on the ferry.  So we bandaged it the best we could and finished hooking up and drove to get in line for the 8 AM ferry.

In the meantime we visited with a wonderful French Canadian couple (late 50's, early 60's) who are traveling on our route but carrying everything on their bikes.  They "cheated" a little in AZ when it got so cold and took a train to Tucson and on to San Antonio, before resuming the bike route.  They came into the RV for the ride on the ferry to avoid the bugs.  Mariette spoke decent English but Irenee did not speak much English.  (Irenee should have an accent mark over the second "e" and is a man.)  We hope to meet up with them again.  

After disembarking the ferry we drove on to Gulf Shores and found the Urgent Care place very easily only 2 blocks off the highway.  (Thank you, God, for arranging for someone to invent Google Maps!)  The receptionist took Dave in ahead of several others in the waiting room.  Dr. Dillard was amazingly efficient, sympathetic, amazed at the adventure, and explicit about treatment.  Nine stitches and a splint later we were on our way.  Dave wanted to ride some today but Mike said "NO!".

We all decided that we would call this our day off, go to Pensacola, and see the Naval Air Museum.  Loved all the beach area along the way, and I hoped to spend some time with my feet in the white sand.  (Didn't happen.) 

The museum is wonderful and we enjoyed plane overload!  Saw an IMAX presentation of the Hubble Telescope.  Moved me to tears.  What an endeavor.  

Went to Bubba Seafood Restaurant for some crab, shrimp and fish--all deep fat fried and delicious!!  Then drove back to Fort Morgan to an RV park along the shore of Mobile Bay for the night.  Tomorrow will be an 80 mile day for us if we can get to Milton, FL.  We'll see how Dave does with the handlebar gripping deficiency!

This  mishap could have been much more serious and we are so thankful that it was not.  Tonight Dave says that the pain is only where the anesthetic was admininstered.  Oh yes, when the nurse asked him how he would rate the pain in his finger this morning, Dave said that it was a 2!  A 2!!!!!!!  I know he has a high pain threshold, but a 2????  

We watched the sunset tonight over the bay from the dock.  I took a picture of a blue heron on the end of the dock waiting for some tidbits to be thrown his way by a fisherman cleaning his catch of the day there.  It was pretty dark, but I enhanced the picture a little.  I sent it to Katy for the website.  Hope that it is good enough to see.

Love and blessings,

Lana