We Are in FLORIDA..

This Elks Club parking is turning into something I really like.   If you remember, I joined the Elks Club along with 52 other Escapee's at the Gillette, WY Escapade. There are over 2000 Elks Clubs thoughout the US and many of them have RV parking. Some are more elaborate than others but they sure are a friendly group and seem happy to have you stop and stay with them. Most are free or a small fee or donation. Sure beats a Walmart, in my opinion. I am just not comfortable in most Walmart parking lots.. Too public for me.

One time a few years ago, someone "keyed" the side of my new truck.  I don't want the same thing to happen to this new truck or motorhome.   I'll stay in one if I can't find anything else, but spots like the one below at the Elks Club in Nevada, MO, north of Joplin, are perfect for a quick overnight stay and they have security driving through all night.




















































We made our way south of Little Rock out of the State of Arkansas and across the NE tip of Louisiana  into the State of Mississippi, where it was time to stop and take a break at the Welcome Center.
























We continued on across Mississippi and about half way across Alabama to the city of Selma, where this beautiful Elks Club was waiting for us. A welcome, quiet spot for us after a 475 mile day. A little longer drive than usual, but still an easy trip and what the heck. we are anxious to get to Florida and see all our kids and friends.

The next day we ran into RAIN.  Darn....almost made the entire trip without getting everything all messed up..  About 2pm we pulled into JRoger and Susan's place north of Monticello, FL. We parked in the RAIN, got all wet, but Roger and Susan welcomed us with open arms and thanked us for bringing the RAIN. It was so good to see them and Susan, bless her heart, had a wonderful bean and ham soup cooking for us and JRoger made a delicious salad... Ummm, so good!

Roger and Susan have a beautiful place down here in the woods and we have enjoyed time here with them before. I will show more pictures in my next Blog but just a few miles away, JRoger has his hunting camp.  It's a 5000 acre plot of forest and backwoods property owned by a Timber Company that JRoger has rented for the hunting rights..

I was anxious to see JRogers hunting property and he had some work to do there, so early Tuesday morning we took off for the Hunting Camp to do some work . It was still raining but that didn't stop JRoger and his 4 wheel drive Dodge truck. Above JRoger is unloading his new invention of a feeder for wild hogs which we carried back into the woods....




























See that little marker ribbon tied on the tree, that's the entrance to a special feeding spot. We took off deep into the woods carrying the new feeder and a sack of corn.  Wow, thick stuff!! Can you imagine.....5000 acres of this stuff! Now I remember all the fun times I've had in the back woods of Florida. I used to own 20 acres right close to here....more memories.




























We installed JRoger's newly designed feeder at his designated spot. This tube with holes in it is filled with corn and the wild hog's roll it to distribute the corn. But along comes Mr. Bear and he is too impatient to just roll it, he wants to tear it apart so the corn will come out all at once. You will note that it is chained to a nearby tree. He had another feeder just like this only lighter pipe set up here and the Bears tore it up in a heartbeat. They even carried half of it off into the woods.  This one is much heaver PVC....I bet they can't tear it up, We are anxious to see and see we will...........




























With this state of the art infrared camera, JRoger sees everything that goes on!!  Plus, hear this..... this camera has a wire that goes high up into the pine tree and is connected to an Antenna. The camera has a Verizon Cell phone in it and it automatically transmits all pictures right to JRogers smart phone....NEAT, huh? JRoger saw the big black bear tear up his previous feeder.  He showed me the picture and I'll try to show it to you later if I can...




























Then with our work all done, JRoger drove me around the area. What a vast wilderness, right in the center of the panhandle of Florida. I really enjoyed it and I was so turned around that the only direction I knew for sure was UP!!!  I wouldn't want to be stranded out there,  The undergrowth is really thick but the wildlife is quite abundant.......but mostly after dark!! 

It kept on raining and JRoger got us out of there and back onto the highway.   I never thought it would happen, but I was sorta glad to see civilization again as we headed for home.  What a neat experience. Thanks JRoger.   I loved it...

So here we are in Florida.  Let the fun begin as we get together with old friends and our Kid's, Grand kids, Great grand kids, etc.... Today, we're off to buy some good ole' Florida seafood......YUM!!!

It is a GREAT WEEK!!!!

Thanks for stopping by and stay tuned as I tell you of our activities for the next couple of weeks.   Who knows what all is going to happen...

God Bless you all!

Mike


This Blog is Published every Wednesday and Sunday..