Hickory Creek Campground, Dallas, TX - Nov. 16-17, 2011

Our last stop before getting back to Lawton, OK was spent at another park I'd found at RV Park Reviews, a Corp of Engineers park called, Hickory Creek Campground. Beautiful park with electric and water for $20, along the bank of Lake Lewisville. The site we'd been assigned was very low in front but we made it work ok. Bruce even lit a campfire, which we do not do that often. It was great, and again, a place we'd like to spend more time at in the future when we aren't in such a hurry to get home and see everyone :-)

Lincoln Parish Park, Ruston, Louisiana - Nov 15-16, 2011

From Ocean Pond (just east of Lake City, FL) we took I-10 but when we got to Mobile the news was reporting traffic problems on I-65 northbound, which is how we'd planned on getting to 98. We decided to take CR 31 which turned out to be a very nice 4 lane highway. From 98, we took 49 to I-20, which was pretty good until about 10-15 miles outside of Jackson, MS, bumpy roads there!. We stopped for the night at a park I'd found at RV Park Reviews and what a find that was too!! Beautiful park, full hookups, right on the lake, amid beautiful trees and for only $20. Lincoln Parish Park is a place we want to go back for a longer visit!

Ocean Pond, Osceola National Forest - Nov 13-15, 2011

Hated to leave our friends at Dade Battlefield in Bushnell but missing family and friends in Oklahoma so off we go...We pulled out of Dade Battlefield State Historic Site (one of our best volunteer camp host jobs yet!) and went up to Ocean Pond Campground to spend a couple of days with Harvey and Valerie, who are camp hosting there. Nice campground located near Lake City, Florida. Very nice National Park with sites along the edge of the lake.

Sebring, Florida - Visit to see Tom and Mary Ann - Nov. 9, 2011

We took a day trip to see our friends, Tom and Mary Ann, in Sebring, Florida. Had a great time, as usual, with them. They had a lunch ready and waiting for us! They took us to see Highlands Hammock State Park and we took a walk on one of the boardwalk trails through the cypress swamp, looking for alligators. Luckily, some other walkers had spotted one or we would have missed it. The mosquitoes found us though! Didn't think they would still be out, ruled this place out as a place to volunteer!  Then we went to the Sebring International Raceway, Bruce was wanting to go through the gift shop that was closed last time we were here.
They fixed a wonderful spaghetti dinner for us, always a great time with the Guinthers!!

Tom and Mary Ann

Highland Hammocks alligator

Bruce at Sebring Raceway

The Market of Marion - Nov. 5, 2011

We did another day of flea marketing, can you get enough of flea markets? Steve and Linda had found one about 45 minutes north of us in Belleview, FL - The Market of Marion. HUGE flea market, lots of fun looking at everything and even found a few things to buy, go figure! We didn't take any pictures but just click the link and you can see how big it is.

Tarpon Springs, Florida - Nov. 1, 2011

Took a nice day trip to a quaint little Greek town, Tarpon Springs, Florida, with our friends, Steve and Linda. It's a cute little port/beach front village with a lot of Greek heritage. The downtown area had several antique shops and Steve even found a barbershop to fix his lopsided haircut he'd got while they were up north. We drove over to the Sponge Docks which was lined with shipping vessels, gift shops and restaurants. We stopped at a wine bar and sampled some wines, did a little shopping then drove to the beach side of town, hard to believe but this was our only time of sticking our feet in the Florida sand! 

Bruce, Kathy, Linda and Steve

Us at Tarpon Springs, Florida

Bushnell, FL - Week of 10/22 - 10/29/11

Yummy dinner of pulled pork and veggie soup

Steve and Linda got here Monday and after setting up we all headed to Webster Flea Market. They came back with all kinds of "treasures". We had a great time! They have decided to spend a couple of weeks here volunteering with us. They seem to really enjoy the park and volunteering. We've taken turns cooking, I'm going to gain all my weight back plus some if we continue this! It has been fun sharing meals with Jim, Brenda, Steve and Linda - the stories have been quite informative and entertaining!

The 6 foot alligator in Spring River

Wednesday we took Steve and Linda up to Rainbow Springs State Park to meet Harvey and Valerie and to canoe down the Rainbow River. I wanted to kayak again but my back was hurting so just rode in the canoe with Harvey and Bruce. Valerie was still recovering from her neck surgery so she didn't get to go. Steve and Linda canoed like pros! The river is so pretty, well, until I spotted an alligator that was about 6 feet long!  Sure made me have second thoughts about getting in the river! We all went out to dinner at a place called Stumpknockers - wonderful seafood restaurant! 

Fun time for all!

Thursday the 4 of us drove down to Lutz, near Tampa to see our friends, Tim and Judy, Rudy and Paula and some other camping friends. Judy fixed us all a wonderful pulled pork dinner then we all went out for an evening of fun and dancing which we haven't done since we were here last year!

Friday and Saturday we all volunteered at the parks "Haunted Trails and Hayride". We helped people get on and off the haywagon. People had a ball and there was a great turnout from the community! We will need a couple of days to recover from this week :-)