Chattanooga, TN

Today it was I75 all the way to Chattanooga. The temps are 15 degree cooler than when we left Florida. There was evidence of the heavy rains of the past few weeks along the way. We saw very little farm work done or being done. The country side as we came from Atlanta into the hills of northern GA took on a patchwork look of various greens. This was caused by the differing stages of budding out that the various trees were in. This was interspersed with dogwoods in bloom and an occasional Wisteria in full bloom.
We had tried to make arrangements to meet with Anita Caldwell a daughter of my cousin Rodney Wheeler in Atlanta so we could leave Aunt Bessie with her. Things didn't work out so Aunt Bessie is still resting quietly under our bed where we put her before leaving Sebring.
Holiday Trav-L-Park were we are staying tonight sets on a Civil War Battlefield site.

Off to the Northland

This morning we left our home in Sebring, FL with Hazen Bay ND on May 19th. our goal. We drove north on US27 to the Florida turnpike and then it was I75 to Valdosta, GA where we made our stop for the night. We drove in rain around Gainsville, FL for a while but it was not a hard rain so driving was not difficult. Just before we reached the GA. state line a van pulled up beside us waving his arms and pointing to the back of the motor home. I looked in the rear view mirror and saw the car trailing of to the right side so pulled over and went back to check. The pin had come out of the tow bar on the left side so we were pulling just from the right side of the tow bar. There was no damage and luckily I had a set of pins with me that I had bought one other time when I had trouble with one of the locks. I must not have gotten the lock on tight this morning when I hooked up. We were lucky as you hear horror stories of tow cars coming completely unhooked and going off to one side or the other. Nancy said she was going to start watching the rear monitor. I said good idea as I get lax about checking it when there is never any change back there.

Easter boat parade

Sunday afternoon at 3 o:clock on Lake Josephene the annual Easter boat parade was held. This year there were 15 boats that participated. Some even tossed candy and Easter eggs to the people on the fishing pier.

HHH Easter Egg Hunt

Today was the 3rd. annual Heartland Horses for Handicapped Easter Egg Hunt put on by the volunteers. This is a fund raiser as well as a fun morning for the children. For the entrance fee of $5 each child gets to hunt Easter eggs, ride a horse around the arena once, play in the air jump house and do some other games. I am guessing we had about 150 children go through today. The eggs that they find are exchanged for prizes and of each group that goes through one is drawn for a grand prize of a large Easter basket full of candy. We also have a bake sale and sell hot dogs. One picture is our group of horses that we also use for the Handicapped program on Wed. & Thur. the last picture is our volunteer group for today.

Lawn Mower races

This afternoon Terri and I along with friends Lisa and David attended the Lawnmower races at the mower plex in Avon Park. This was a sanctioned national points race so there were mowers there from as far away as New York . It was a very warm afternoon and they had trouble keeping the track in shape. It would get to dry causing spin outs and wrecks and they would water it and then it would be wet and they would have more spinouts and wrecks. I know you can't go fast enough to spinout on a lawn mower but remember 3 classes of them are capable of running up to 60 MPH. The pictures show the running start that is used to start the race, one of the slower class races and the final is of mowers that are running 40 to 50 MPH on the strait away but a little slower on this corner shot. Oh what us retired folks do for entertainment.

Bullistic

Sat. evening found us at Fireman's Field for the 9th. annual Sebring Bullistic. This not the PBR but a step below as far as bull riders go. They have some quality bucking bulls however. This event is held on the 50 yard line of the local football field. I have never figured out how they get the football coach to go along with it. I guess the grass regrows so fast here in Florida and they really don't seem to tear it up much so it must not be a problem. Between the first go round and the last go round they have a hoola hoop contest where the winner receives $100. You are probably thinking I would try that for $100 but think again. What they do is throw hoola hoops on the ground in the arena and the contestants stand in the hoops, they then turn a bucking bull lose in the arena and the last person still standing inside their hoop is the winner.

Raver Day at Buttonwood Bay

Today was Raver Day. Raver Day you say whats that? Well that is the day that Sun Communities and the management of Buttonwood Bay host a gathering in the picnic area for all the residents of Buttonwood Bay. It lasts from noon until 3 PM but we got rained out about 1:30 today. There is musical entertainment free beer & pop along with a meal and drawing for prizes. It rained before they did the drawing for door prizes so most people had left which kinda surprised me as the rain only lasted a few minutes. Also when something is free people at Buttonwood Bay tend to stay until it is all given away. They will do the drawing and publish the numbers in the cyber news on Sun. They said there was around 700 in attendance today. There would have been more but a lot of the RVer's left on Wed. as that was the first of the month. Also a lot of other people have gone north already. It sounds like a lot more will be leaving in the next few days. Many people like to be back home before Easter. I didn't think to take my camera so I don't have any pictures.