Rolling Along With The Reynolds

Jim and Cindy's Adventure Blog traveling all over the USA

Tag: family

Family time in Ft. White; our hearts are full

A lovely three weeks were spent at the Ft. White Pine Forest Homestead to visit with my Mom and GrandJim and take care of some personal business in our official domicile town of Lake City. Would’ve stayed a bit longer, but our hydraulic jack system needs further attention, so that means moving onwards for repairs. 

It was a great time to visit with family, including my Aunt and Uncle. Had a chance to sift through some old boxes of family photos, bonded so strongly to Callie and Lizzie the sweetest cats ever that we seriously wanted to stowaway (although Darcy I highly doubt would  share our enthusiasm for this, LOL).

2023-7 Picture Album of Ft. White

 

Eventful times

Lots of party events occurred in this short time period, in spite of my Mom’s health. Happy hours (Lee and Denise), social lunches (Jeff and Becky), Cinco De Mayo, the British Coronation, Kentucky Derby, and more! 

GrandJim’s hard work out in the yard yielded bountiful harvests of roses and other flowers, plus the garden full of Romaine lettuce, Arugula, banana peppers, cucumbers, tomatoes, green onions made delicious salads (oh, and of course the mint to add into Mint Juleps!)

<—– Jim cooking smashburgers on the Blackstone griddle.

2023-7 Picture Album of Ft. White

Ft. White Scenery

Columbia county is so pretty; the dirt roads out in the country make for some very enjoyable bike rides. Touring the family acreage on golf carts revealed some interesting sights (robber flies, oh my! Plus cute cottontail rabbits, bulls on the loose – yes, danger danger, gorgeous oaks draped in spanish moss, a hidden motor speedway, and the famous pile of old Herty clay turpentine pots from generations past).

2023-7 Picture Album of Ft. White

 

A beeline thru Texas to get to Jared in Alabama 

 

 

We spent very little time getting from New Mexico to Alabama. Not because there’s nothing to see (oh, there’s tons!), but because we have a hard target date to make it back to Florida for the Hulaween Festival. We will certainly travel through this I-10 corridor at a much slower speed to explore at a later date, but until then we made every attempt to crane our neck, take in the sights, and make notes of the areas, towns, and attractions we’d like to revisit.
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The highlight of this stretch of our journey was no doubt seeing my Uncle Bubba and family in Dripping Springs Texas. We were treated to a delicious Tex-Mex spread for dinner and wonderful conversation. A lovely evening was had by all, and we will certainly take them up on the offer to visit again; next time, we shall also indulge in the many Texas Hill Country vineyards and enjoy a few German beers in the town of Fredericksburg. 
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More highlights from the road:
* a 4-hour layover at Buc-Eees in Katy, Tx to wait-out the rush hour traffic we would’ve otherwise be in the midst of in the middle of Houston. The “on pause” moment was well worth it! We had fun sampling many of the delish nom noms they offer, and more importantly, the stress of driving through downtown Houston was dramatically reduced at 7 PM.
* the remoteness of New Mexico/Texas border along Hwy nnn. The oilfield region is so surreal, lots of power lines strung this way and that, seemingly random pipes aflame, pipes/culverts/drills/transformers, and yet very few people buzzing about all that infrastructure.
_  periodic water pump stations open to the public.
 – the company lodging for field employees – especially the RV Parks, featuring row upon row of “A” shaped roofs, that are individually covered RV pole barn sites that were close to full capacity.
* Two boondock nights at Interstate Rest Stops – it’s been a while!