Jan 2007

The promise of a new day and great hope arises in our hearts. Dad has booked a plane ticket back to us so gladness is the emotion of the day. The kindness of strangers never ceases to amaze me. Take today for instance. It was a day of school for Mariah and in our search for WiFi we found a restaurant called Crispers. I needed power and the manager brought out a 100' extension cord just so I could do my internetting. He ran it across the floor so I could sit at a table and work (& book Mark's ticket). After I was done, I made use of my past and looped the cord so it could be stored neatly and conveniently for its next adventure. I was very grateful.

Mote aquarium home school day. It is no surprise that Florida is a state with an abundance of aquariums. With the Gulf of Mexico on one side and Atlantic on the other and plenty of wetlands, swamps, estuary's, bays, etc, it is a water lovers paradise both fresh and salt water. It is also perfect situation for the study of man's affect on the environment because there are way to many people here and competition for space is becoming increasingly fierce. The mission of Mote is do research and then to disseminate the information as quickly as possible in hopes of making the ever growing population aware of it's impact. There are the typical bells and whistles of aquariums but they are used to lure the unsuspecting patron into understanding the role they play in the game. I mean game. They have a huge interactive screen with touch screen monitors so you can play and see the result immediately. But I digress…I lucked out and found in one of the local papers'events calendar that Mote was having a home school day so off we went. The facility had different classes for different ages. Olivia learned the basics about sharks (Mote's specialty) and dolphins. Mariah spent the morning doing activities that demonstrated Florida's ecology and watched a demonstration on coral reefs. One of shortcomings of home schooling is the worry of no lab for the science courses so imagine how tickled I was when in the afternoon Mariah went over to one of the research labs and dissected a bonnet head shark. I had no idea that was what she would be doing. She came back grossed out but excited. For the next hour, I was regaled with tales of slimy shark innards, stomach contents (sharks eat crabs, who would of guessed?) and cute boys (yes, there were teenage boys in the group who were equally grossed out). That was the best reward for our money but we also got t-shirts and a curriculum package for studying the rainforest of Panama (lucky for Mariah she has already been there). We spent the rest of the afternoon wandering around looking at the fish, turtles, dolphins and playing the interactive ocean theatre. It is going to be difficult to top that day but we will try. I must really be getting into traveling mode for I had my first lost in time experience when a RV pulled up to our campsite and asked us when we were leaving. I said I thought tomorrow but I had gotten mixed up on the day so we had to see how quickly the girls and I could pull together and pull out. We did it in 40 minutes not panicking. They really are getting the hang of this. We are off down the west coast to Koreshan, a religious utopia that finally went under because one of the basic tenets was celibacy. The girls and I had our firedrill pack up again. We were staying at a private campground when the office staff came over and asked if we were staying another day. We said no and they informed us check out time was 12 (it was 12:10) – whoops again and they say lightning never strikes twice. We were gone in 20 minutes. The girls are getting very good at getting going. Tonight we have been invited to play for the Koreshan ghost tour. It is nice when you practice and someone offers you something for your playing. Mariah's fiddle really brings 'em in. Holy mackerel batman, we made money playing for the ghost tour patrons. It is one thing to play for people who specifically come to hear music and quite another to play for total strangers that you really don't have a clue whether they like music or not. Needless to say we were well received and it was great fun. We even made a bit of pocket money. Friday evening, we had no idea that people would give us money and so the only vessel into which they could put some was Olivia's bicycle helmet which she had carelessly tossed on the ground next to us. Some people put in change and we didn't realize it and it fell through the holes in the helmet on the ground. Now we understand the meaning of "my bucket's got a hole in it, can't buy no beer"!. The next evening we left Mariah's fiddle case open and that was better – no holes. The ghost tour was an interesting way of presenting living history. There were people dressed in period costume, having conversations as if you weren't there about events in the community. It was very well done. Sunday the some of the volunteers did a bread baking demonstration using a dutch oven. Great bread, now I want one so I can try. We are now at a beautiful park called Ft Desoto which was voted America's #1 beach by Dr. Beach (how do you get a name like that?). I want to be Madam Beach so I can test all the beaches in the world and have people pay me for my opinion…dreaming. Anyway the beach is very pretty and the campground has lot's of squirrels for Olivia to chase. Mark comes back tonight (Whoopee!) so I may not be able to write for awhile but will try to keep you informed.

Life without Dad is like music without harmony, the essentials are there but somehow the song is not as sweet as it could be. The day of his departure we tried to make the best of it in the typical fashion that women will do (ha ha): we went shopping. Now as most of you know I am not a big shopper, most places bore me stiff but we managed to find some great finds in Ybor City. It was such a delightful place on our last visit but we didn't have as much time to explore its inner recesses, really what I mean is it's exchange clothing and vintage stores! I found a Florida outfit and Mariah found a dress for her trip with Grandma Richey in June. We had a great time watching a man hand roll cigars and then going in and smelling what a real cigar store should smell like. The best part of the day was the lunch with Dad overlooking Tampa Bay. The turn of the century houses along the drive to the restaurant were very impressive. This was the summer home of such notables as Henry Ford and Thomas Edison. It is always interesting to me to see how architectural style has changed over the years. It seems like much has happened since I last felt like writing but only the highlights come to mind. We have been adrift since Dad left and people who were once strangers now have come to fill some of the emptiness. One couple we met were musicians. The wife played mountain dulcimer and her husband learned to play the guitar so they could play together. We all got together and played for a campsite campfire. All the people seemed to really enjoy it. The girls and I had our first go it alone moving day and we were pleased all went well. We are staying at a county park that after we got there we discovered they only took cash for the RV space. Thank goodness Mariah had some because I was plum out. We are now living in a mangrove otherwise known as no-see-um land. It is beautiful during the day but if you step outside around sunset you are bait, dinner and dessert for a whole array of insects with invisibility cloaks and really sharp teeth. I have to laugh at Florida and their wildlife sometimes. They have "fire ant's" here that are the size of our sugar ants in Socorro. They look harmless but they leave a bite that won them the 'most painful insect bite' award in my book. We are trying to avoid the great outdoors during certain parts of the day. We finally got to see the Museum of Science and Industry (nicknamed MOSI) which is sort of like Explora in Albuquerque but not as good. They did have an interesting hurricane experience tunnel that the kids enjoyed. Mariah has been working her tail off with her schooling which is terrific but it leaves Olivia and I kind of hanging because I don't like to go off and do fun stuff without Mariah. After a day or so of keeping ourselves entertained at the campground, Olivia and I went on a reconnaissance run down to Sarasota. We stopped at a fresh seafood market that had a small café on the Sarasota bay. It was a beautiful place to eat and watch pelicans be lazy after a tough morning fishing. From there we went down to the Ringling Museum complex. We wandered around the grounds and decided we needed to come back the next day with Mariah. Our intuition was correct. We saw thehouse of John and Maybel Ringling of the circus fame and it was a fantastic view into the life of the very wealthy from the 1920's. The house, museum and grounds had been donated to the state of Florida upon John's death and they had no children. Mr. Ringling had been an art connoisseur and had built a museum for his collection and his wife Maybel loved the Venetian style so the house was very ornate. I would describe it as the Versailles of Southeastern United States. Everything was hand painted and gilded with gold. The house had been closed up and left just as it was when John died. The state just restored it in 1996 so it is in very nice condition, even down to the shoes and socks Mr. Ringling wore still in the closet. These were people who had an interest in detail. The grounds also contained 2 museums on the history of the circus plus an extremely detailed miniature circus diorama that takes up about football field. It was a great way to spend a beautiful Florida day.

Hello Dali! It must be museum week at the moving home place. Olivia and I went to the Salvador Dali museum in St Petersburg. You must be asking yourself "why is the Dali museum in St Pete's?" Well a wealthy patron and friend of Salvador Dali's wanted to put his entire collection which was quite extensive in a museum but he would only place it with the stipulations that the collection came as a whole and none of the pieces could ever be sold . Most museums want to pick and choose or sell off some to pay for other works of art. A business man from St Petersburg saw an article about the collection and it homeless problem and was able to convince the city fathers of it value and viola – an incredible Dali museum in sw Florida. Olivia was so excited but after about 15 minutes she started to pout and said she wanted to see where the Barbie's were. Whoops so much for the Dolly museum in her mind. After that we enjoyed a tour and some of the many works of Dali's that were not in the paint medium. Did you know that the dream sequence in Alfred Hitchcocks movie ' Spellbound' was put together by him? When you see the scene - it is obvious. He had quite an interesting life.

This weekend we spent with some folks we had met at Hog Island so the kids could get some kid time. They had fun jumping on the trampoline and watching movies. Olivia and I did manage to go to the St Pete pier to meet up with some friends of hers. It is an upside down pyramid out in the bay. It was such a beautiful day. Later that day we had a traditional St Pete experience. We went to the Gaspirilla parade. It is like the Mardi Gras of this area. It commemorates the pirate's invading Tampa. There are lots of gorgeous men and women dressed in period costumes on pirate ship floats throwing off lots of beads. The kids came home with a trailer full of 'em. If we ever break down, I can use them to tow us into town! You learn a lot about a place in a parade. There were not any political floats and very few commercial floats. It was mostly the descendants of the St Pete's founders and neighborhood associations. I guess they do it 3 times. Once is the childrens day parade, next the adult daytime parade and last is the nighttime "adults get very wild" parade. I wish Mark would get back…. Today is moving day, off to Lake Manatee.

A good deed indeed can go unpunished. We really enjoyed our cousins so much that we took them camping at Hillsbourough River. Ryan is 15 years old and very polite. His sister is 13 and coming into her own as a teenager. They were great company for the kids and everyone spent hours laughing and fishing. We were sorry to part company but we had a date in Crystal River with our friend Tim. There are no state parks in Crystal River so we thought we would try our first foray into the land of private campgrounds. Well the first thing we noticed is that they are expensive. They are also very "tidy", in attitude as well as looks. We were so excited because there was a heated pool, Wi-Fi and complete hook ups. Well, we were the oldest and most venerable rig in the place which had such notable tenants as Gary Burghoff (otherwise known as Radar from MASH). We pulled in and got our spot and were immediately assaulted by the activities director who told us about the New Year's Eve party and the poker game on Tuesdays and the art classes on Wed and the bridge on Thursday s etc etc etc. We weren't sure what la la land we had entered but we decided to make the best of it. Tim showed up and ran the electronic gauntlet (coded electric gate) and we felt like gypsies in the palace. Olivia immediately headed for the heated pool and Mariah took advantage of the intermittent internet access. Many of the residents came by to enjoy our cheerful little camp. Later (like at 11 pm) I went swimming in their heated pool and took a hot shower. Once upon a good night sleep and some more pool time for Olivia, we returned to the camper to fix breakfast and the hatchet man showed up. It turns out there is a little known rule that people are not allowed to stay in truck campers but we were welcome to stay if we didn't stay in our truck camper. Now we had become bonafide "riff raff". The good news is we got a refund for the next couple of nights we were supposed to stay and the bad news is ….actually it is more good news, for tonight – New Years Eve- we are at a state forest campground with no pool but a great campfire and we are much more comfortable and happy.

New Year's Eve in the woods is a beautiful place to be. It's quiet and safe and gives you a place you can contemplate what the New Year means. It is also a place you can pop a bottle of bubbly and let the cork fly! We managed to do both while we shared our wonderful New Mexico champagne that had traveled a long ways to be consumed at such an opportune moment with our friend Tim. Thanks to Pete and Jan for the bubbly : )

New Years Days had us on the "hunt for" the elusive manatee and we finally found some at Homosassa State Wildlife Park. The park used to be a private-for-profit theme park where profit seemed to be almost better served by development but the state stepped in and took it over and now it is a State theme park. We traveled down a canal on boat to the actual park and it felt like a Disney ride. The park has several shows where they feed the resident hippo that everyone wanted to keep after all the other "wildlife" from other places was shipped away, talk about the 12 "gators" and the highlight was the feeding and frolicking with the manatees. I bet you all didn't know that manatees love sweet potatoes! The park was filled with Florida's native plants and animals. After being in Florida's undeveloped wildlife areas, it was quite the contrast. We returned to our wildlife sanctuary in the woods and found that despite the drizzle all day our fire was still alive. One of the benefits of being in the state forest is the firewood is plentiful so we loaded up the next day and headed to Alafia River State park. This park really reminds me of a cross between the Bosque del Apache and South Dakota. Last night we were serenaded by redwing blackbirds and this morning our alarm clock was sandhill cranes. We are about an hour from Tampa but you would think we are a million miles away from any civilization. We know that is not the case as we had to go into town to do laundry and the subdivisions start about 5 miles west of here. There are 17 miles of mountain bike trails so off we go to enjoy the great outdoors before it rains again.

The Fat Tire Fiesta (a mountain bike festival in Socorro) folks would have a field day here. There are so many different types of bike trails here it is like an amusement park for the fitness conscious. Mariah and I rode the easy trail and felt like idiots when we forgot our helmets. You ride through the jungle and sometimes the trees on the path leave only enough room for the handle bars (whoops, don't forget to fold in that mirror) and (thanks I didn't need all that skin on my hands anyway!). When we were done, we were done in. It was fun and the humidity was only 95 percent so it was bearable. On Thursday, we went into Tampa for the day. Despite the late start we packed a lot of activities in. We went to the power plant and saw wild manatees (not the most active creatures in the world) but the power plant had a very nice visitor center that glorified it's relationship between nature and industry and how the manatees are so grateful for the warm effluent from the power plant. We heard from many people about the Science and Industry museum so we headed there for a look see. The admission price was a bit high considering we would only get to spend a couple of hours so we opted for a tour of the gift shop which was educational and fun. Olivia is now the proud owner of a pet tornado which she has been having fun with and we realized one could make a Wizard of Oz version by inserting a plastic Dorothy and witch on bicycle. Ahh fun with science! Our next stop was Ybor City (pronounced EE-bor) where Tampa's immigrant population congregated to work in the cigar factories in the 1800's. It is like a cross between the French Quarter in New Orleans and New York City. Two and three story buildings with ornate iron railings. This is the gathering spot for Theo's Rough Riders before they went to Cuba. We learned where the term "stogie" came from. Cheap cigars were made in Conestoga, PA which is the same place as Conestoga wagons and the cigars went west with the settlers and were called stogies. The evening was spent at the "Greatest show on Earth". Yes we went to the Ringling Bros and Barnum Bailey circus in downtown Tampa, home of the Ringling Bros and Barnum Bailey. There is an art museum here that we look forward to seeing that was Mr. Bailey's personal collection. I keep wondering if at the museum if they will "bring in the clowns"? Olivia enjoyed the circus but the rest of us noticed that Disney, NDI and insurance companies have had a definitive impact on this circus. It was a great day overall and tomorrow looks to be a quiet day of fishing, riding and resting.

You meet the nicest people when you travel. We spent the day riding and looking for fishing spots. The park guide here is Patrick and he has spent quite a bit of time telling us about what is available in the area. He told us about the fossils beds that are in the area and how there were two shallow currents of water that passed over this area when it was covered by a shallow sea and how the animal life flourished here and that is why there was a phosphate mine here from all the animal bones. You can still find dugongs fossils and sharks teeth etc. We didn't find anything but we did enjoy the water. In the afternoon, Mariah and I met a woman who had to many horses to ride herself so she said we could ride her extra horses – whoopee! The next day we went trail riding through the park with her and her girlfriends. It was great. We saw an alligator from the back of a horse and I must say I felt a lot safer from that vantage point. On the afternoon ride we had a bit of excitement when an armadillo spooked the horses and then at the trailhead somebody's dog got loose and tried to bite one of the horses but all is well that ends well. I have to laugh because I could get on her horses without assistance, they are not as tall as the horses I am used to. Today (Sunday) we leave this wonderful place and head onto Little Manatee River. I can finally send out this so I will. Missing everyone. Oh and by the way if you are in Socorro or near Socorro for the next three weeks or so Mr Mark will be flying solo in Socorro starting Tuesday and the girls will be on our own in the great state of Florida and -no- we are not sick of each other, he just has to take care of some details at home. Please take good care of him, we love him and look forward to his speedy return.