By early evening we were pulling into a Cracker Barrel in Savannah, GA. We had a nice dinner and got tucked in for the night. Most Cracker Barrels have parking for semi trucks and RV's and depending on the city ordinances, they allow RV-er's to stay the night.
On Wednesday, October 14th, we left Savannah and had a nice trip down Rt. 95 into Florida.
We pulled into Pellicer Creek Campground in St. Augustine, Florida. It was a quaint and beautiful landscaped campground that was along the Pellicer Creek.
The Pellicer Creek
We relaxed a bit and then headed to our friends home. Ruth and Skip live about 7 miles away in the town of Palm Coast.
They were "full time RV-er's" for about 10 years. They decided to trade in their house on wheels for a stick and brick home and purchased this home earlier this year. We are their first visitors.
We first met Skip and Ruth about 7 years ago at our favorite RV resort in Lakehills, Texas called Lake Medina RV Resort. We "wintered" there with them for the past several years. I have written about Lake Medina also known as the Leibold's-Grothues Ranch many times in our adventures.
It was great to see them and their home was just beautiful. I loved their big kitchen and the open floor plan. Most of all, I loved the screened in porch and secluded backyard.
Here is a gecko lizard crawling on the outside of the screened in porch. They are adorable just like the Geico Insurance lizard on TV.
A beautiful palm tree.
Orange tree.
Ruth is a wonderful cook and we had many great meals together when we were camping. Our first nights dinner together was her Chicken and Dumplings. Oh my gosh, the best I have ever had!
This pretty archway is from the living room looking into the kitchen.
On Thursday, October 15th we were suppose to ride our bikes over to Skip and Ruthie's. When the alarm went off, I decided to use my "Easy Button". Ralph was getting dressed and I said "It is so comfy and cozy this morning, what do you think if we just drove the truck over and that way we could stay and enjoy our coffee in bed and relax a little longer?"
Well that is all it took. As the coffee was brewing, Ralph jumped back into bed. Heck, I probably didn't even have to use my "Easy Button".
Eventually we did have to get up and head over to Skip and Ruthie's for a wonderful breakfast that she was making for us!
When we walked in their home, I was in heaven! Ruthie was busy flipping pancakes and cooking sausage and eggs. The smell of pancakes is one of my favorite smells. I wish they could make an air freshener that smelled like pancakes!
After breakfast, she and I did some errands around town. The town of Palm Coast is gorgeous. The town keeps everything beautifully manicured. Roads around town are lined with beautiful palm trees, shrubs, flowers and plants. Just about each pond and lake has a fountain.
On Friday, October 16th, we took Ruthie and Skip out to the popular "Metro Diner". It was featured on the Food Network Channel. The program is called "Dumps, Diners and Dives". The host is Guy Fieri.
Wow, what a busy diner. I got a kick out of their paper place mats. Business's place their ads on these place mats for their services. Who ever came up with this idea was a genius! I had a good laugh.
You could watch the cooks from your table prepare meals.
I took a picture of the pictures that were on the diners walls. Here is Guy Fieri signing his book for one of the patrons.
Isn't this just one of the most beautiful things you have ever seen on a plate? It tasted as good as it looked! It is called a breakfast pizza. Our server was excellent and the manager stopped by everyone's table to make sure all was well and it sure was!
We were happily stuffed as we all waddled out to the car. Skip and Ruth took us and for a nice drive to see the St. Augustine area. We got a treat by seeing a draw bridge being raised so this sail boat could pass through.
St. Augustine is a pristine town and several of the "rich and famous" have homes on the ocean.
We took time to pull into a nice little public access beach to enjoy the beautiful Atlantic Ocean and the wildlife. Ruthie comes here often with her chair to read and relax and to enjoy the sounds of the surf.
A lone fisherman.
Ruthie.
We enjoyed a fun dinner on our last night with them. I had a pack of Hebrew National Dinner Franks. They are hard to find and are huge "quarter pound" fat delicious hot dogs. We had that along with slaw, baked beans, kraut, sauteed zucchini and squash and a salad.
What a fun day it was hanging out with Ruthie and Skip. Sadly we had to say goodbye, we are sure going to miss them this winter at Lake Medina RV Resort in Texas.
On Saturday, October 18th we left the east coast of Florida and headed to the west coast of Florida. While passing through Orlando I saw several of these neat Mickey Mouse electric poles. Orlando is of course the home Disney World.
Crossing Tampa Bay.
200 miles later, we arrived in the town of Largo, just west of Tampa. We were "freeloading" in the front of Joe and Sandy's home.
Here is Joe, he was an old neighbor of Ralph's when they lived in Mt. Airy, MD.
Joe and Sandy took us on tour of their yard naming all the trees and shrubs. Here is a banana tree and they do get bunches of bananas.
Joe and Sandy have always had Dobermans. Here is Rusty, their red dobie. This is one of the few times he stood still for a picture. He is high energy.
One of the many blooming flowers in their yard.
Joe showing us his toys.
In his younger years, Joe raced for Kawasaki Motorcycles. This was one of his racing suits and he can still fit into it!
We drove to the nearby town of Clearwater to the very popular Clearwater Beach. We had a nice bite to eat at a Thai Restaurant.
Over the years, Clearwater Beach has been ranked one of the best beaches in the U.S. It is also where the rich and famous have beach front homes. We saw several mansions. To me the mansions were gaudy and it was a shame to ruin this Gulf Coast beach.
After dinner we stopped to watch the entertaining pelicans dive into the water and feast on fish and take off again anticipating their next sushi meal.
Joe, Ralph and Sandy watching cranes and pelicans in flight. We even got a glimpse of a dolphin.
It was a little tricky getting photos of these fast moving pelicans.
You can take a tour on a pirate ship.
Now this is my kind of bench!
On Sunday, October 18th, we said our goodbyes to Sandy, Joe and Rusty.
On the way out of Largo, I caught this cute picture of "Florida Santa" and his little dog. Check out the license plate and his white beard.
"we had a nice bite to eat at a Thai restaurant"--I'm thinking by the way you described that meal, "nice" that you weren't fond of Thai food??? :))))) "Nice" isn't how you usually describe food!
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