"Way Down Upon De Swanee Ribber"

As a young girl learning to play the piano, I was introduced to many of Stephen Foster's compositions. Jim and I spent this past week camped near the river he made famous in his song "The Old Folks At Home". Foster needed the name of a southern river to finish the song, and actually considered two others before settling on the Suwannee River, which he shortened to Swanee to better fit the song.

Known as "America's Troubadour", the Stephen Foster Cultural Center commemorates the musician and his works. The 97 bells housed in the Carillon Tower play selected compositions as you tour the park while the museum is home to diaramas that reflect the stories contained in his music. The picture below does not do justice to the level of detail in each diarama.

We stayed at the Spirit of the Suwannee Music Park. This park is all about the music! What a time we had. In addition to holding festivals throughout the year (kind of a Florida version of Dauphin Countryfest), there is something happening every night - karaoke, live performances, dancing and even bingo. This picture was taken at karaoke. The DJ for the evening was a very good singer. He was practising his Elvis routine for the upcoming "Elvis" weekend at at the park.

Here Benji and Jim are enjoying a fire. Zoe is off somewhere standing guard making sure no militant squirrels invade our "camp".

We met two wonderful couples this week - Bob and Connie from Washington state and Hogan and Donna from Mississippi. Donna and I enjoyed a morning coffee in the warm morning sun. (Note Zoe is still standing guard!)

Saturday we broke camp and headed for the Orlando area. Maybe we'll catch a glimpse of Mickey and Minnie this week. Take care everyone.

It Warmed Up!

As we departed Alabama last week, we ran into a retired Canadian Forces member (from Newfoundland, no less). He asked why we were going to Fountain - what was there to see? Our response was nothing. Just a different part of Florida. Well, what we found in Fountain was warm weather, great people and golf!



This was our home for the week. Now warm, like cold, is a relative thing. While we rejoiced in the warm weather, many native Floridians thought it to be still too cold to golf. As such, we had the course pretty well to ourselves, except for ......





















an armadillo,



















some wild turkeys



and native birds.





















Fortunately, despite this warning sign on Hole #3, the 'gators and snakes also found it way to cold and NO sightings were made.











We were able to enjoy the entire 18 holes, playing the last hole as the sun started its descent over the Gulf horizon.











Saturday it was time to move a little further east. We've parked just north of the small town of Live Oak. Hopefully the warm weather will stick around (and the internet connection will improve (LOL)).

Freezin' our Fannies in Fountain, Florida

I know, I know - it's not as cold here as it is back home but cold is a relative thing and when you're living in an RV, minus 7 is cold! Even Benji stays buried under the quilt, savouring the warmth of the bed. Oh, and a tip - buy propane stocks - at the rate we're burning it up you're bound to make a bundle (LOL).

All complaining (or whining) aside, the cold is taking its toll on our activites. Most of the touristy things to do in this part of the world take place outside. Swimming, golf - not great when it's hovering around zero. We did take a day to visit the Naval Aviation Museum in Pensacola, Florida. Got to ride in a simulator, watch an IMAX movie about helicopters and even sit in the cockpit of a Blue Angel aircraft.

After all that stress of "flying", we took a moment to relax at the NAS Phillipines Club. The Club was dismantled, transported to Pensacola and recreated inside the musuem. The wood carvings in the Club were done by local Phillipino woodworkers to honour the men and women who served at the Naval Air Station.

The locals tell us the cold snap is about to break. We're keeping our fingers crossed and hoping to get a few rounds of golf in and a chance to check out Panama City and its beaches before moving on to central Florida. See ya next week.

Sweet Home Alabama

Happy New Year!!

Another quiet, relaxing week on the Mississippi Gulf coast. We did manage to get in another round of golf, opted not to ¨donate¨ any more money to the local casinos and took the dogs for walks on the beach. We also tried a new game offered at the RV park - Disk Golf. As you can see our form is not bad, but Jim`s must be better as he kicked my butt! You get three different weighted frisbee-like disks and you have to count the number of times it takes you to get the disk in the ¨hole¨. The course has par 3s, 4s and 5s, out of bounds areas and dog legs to manoeuvre. This week it even offered sand and water hazards - more commonly known as mud as you can see from my feet!

The RV owners hosted a New Year`s Eve get together, and a luncheon the following day. They do a great job of making everyone feel welcome. For our RV buddies, the Bay Hide Away in Bay St Louis is a great place to stay when in this area. They`re not even that far from New Orleans. Let Chef Jeaux (pronounced Joe) and Michelle look after you when you travel the Coast.

But it was time to move on so Saturday we packed our bags and headed further east on the I-10 to Styx River RV Resort, located about halfway between Mobile, Al and Pensacola, Fl. And guess what I found

You got it - after five months and one week I finally got to soak in a hot tub again. I may never leave!

See ya next week!