ther hand, was 60 miles further but allegedly an hour faster, backtracking to I-10, then to I-95 for the ride south – boring…Our route took us south and east through western and central Florida, and after an hour or two we found ourselves Way Down Upon the Suwannee River, Far Far From Home, where we stopped for a break and photo op. We descended a stairway to a small dock on the river for a close-up view, although we were cautioned by a nearby sign not to swim because of strong currents and alligators. Interestingly (to some), when Stephen Foster wrote the song he had never been to the river or Florida, and the original lyrics named the Pedee River of South
Carolina. A friend nominated the Suwannee River as a better vocal fit, and history was made.We continued on our route past Ocala and Silver Springs, and stopped in Sanford, not far from our destination for some lunch. The TomTom gets a little anal at times about following the shortest route, and in Sanford wanted us to zig zag through some local side streets instead of continuing on the half mile or so to the next highway. We played that game when it looked interesting, and ignored it otherwise when we new better. It always recovered and recalculated the route for the next turn.
We arrived at Jim & Barb’s house in Mims around 3 o’clock, with plenty of time for some initial visiting before the next ev
ent of the day, the launch of the Space Shuttle Discovery, scheduled to blast off at 5:02 pm. Traffic was very congested to the south in Titusville and points south along the Indian River, where you can view the launch pad directly from the highway and shoulders. Those spots, while prime viewing, are still 7 or 8 miles away from the launch pad. We chose to view it like the locals – watch the countdown and launch on NASA TV, then step outside to watch it soar overhead. Very impressive and fun to watch, although it didn’t shake the ground like the Saturn V rockets of the Apollo era.Next on the agenda was a trip to Jennifer and Andrew’s place to celebrate Ava’s 2nd birthday. Everyone was there, so a lot of visiting and photo opportunities occurred. We dined on some wonderful bean dip and pizzas galor
e, chatted and caught up on family doings. We saw the latest changes to their house, their new pool outside, and sat out in the back yard in the evening after the heat of the day had subsided somewhat. The kids ran and played, and Ella the puppy ran, played and dug in the yard, even though she was admonished not to.We followed Jim & Becky to their home afterwards for the night. We’ll be staying there for the next few nights.
Grampa Jim and Hannah ===>
<=== Ava the Birthday Girl
Ella the puppy watches Ashley swing ===>
<=== Jenna takes a turn on the swing
Randy & Krista's daughter Sarah, the youngest of the next generation ===>
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