Fun in Florida and Heading West

Well hey there. How’s everybody doin’?

I’m about to hit the road again after spending about 4 days in Jacksonville and a week here in Pensacola visiting friends and family, so I thought I’d get off a quick post to bring folks up to date.

I did indeed get to sit the 10 day meditation course in Jesup, which was even more wonderful the second time than it was the first time. I guess the first time I was so busy trying to figure things and worrying if they were going to ask me to drink the kool-aid, that I couldn’t hear and absorb as much as I did the second go round. Interested parties can click here to see and learn more.   http://www.patapa.dhamma.org/

Here we are leaving the Course after being there at the center for over a month. I couldn’t think of a better use of time.

After leaving the big metropolis of Jesup, Ga, I again headed to Jacksonville, Florida where I hooked up with my friends, the Crosby’s, and headed straight out to Ponte Vedra beach to enjoy a few days of sun and warmish temps. Here’s the view from my bedroom.

This is the beach I grew up going to as a small child and when there, hunted sharks teeth. As you will see, I was successful on this trip as well. It is such a given that you hunt for sharks teeth while at Ponte Vedra that when I answered the phone when my sister called, she didn’t even say hello, she said, “what are ya doin’, huntin’ for sharks teeth?” Crack me up.

After getting back to town, my cousin invited me to the Zoo where she spends hours upon hours volunteering.  Here she is with a giant Silverback Gorilla.  Everyone say hello to Kenyon….see a family resemblance?  She looks a bit like me, but is the spitting image of my sister.

And here she is again with Tuzi, her Vizsla when they came over to see Dora.  Everyone say hello to Tuzi!

After Jax, I moved west, stopping overnight in Tallahassee to eat oysters with my brother Jimmy on my way to Pensacola to see The Eubanks.

And here they are below with Peg Leg Pete.  We went to this fine establishment last night for, you guessed it, oysters.  Apalachicola Oysters, that is.

I’ve been here a week tomorrow and its been chilly with some sun and some rain.  Bill has kindly helped me with some projects that needed doing on Dora and Lil has kept me fed and entertained.  Thanks guys!  They happen to have an RV hookup in their side yard since they had to live in their RV FOR A YEAR after Hurricane Ivan dropped a huge Oak tree in the middle of their house.

Here are some shots I took at the beach while over there with Lil one day.

And look at this sunset.  Lovely.

So, my plan is to leave here tomorrow and head to New Orleans for a few days and then on out to Big Bend National Park in Texas and then up to New Mexico and finally Arizona.  I’ve posted a new route map on the “Route Map” page of the blog, so if you are interested in seeing my route from here out to Massage Therapy School, you can see it there.

Hope all is well with all of you.

Since I’ll be traveling for the next few weeks, I hope to get back to a more prolific schedule with my blog postings, so stay tuned.