Cell service
is sketchy now, so blog updates may be sporadic for the next week or so. We
took our first full day off since the beginning of the trip. It was good to
just sit around camp, play in the intercoastal waterway and relax. I took a
four mile run early in the morning and it took me more than two hours to stop
sweating after I stopped. It’s definitely humid here.
The next
morning, I tried to start the car and found we had a dead battery. Luckily, I
had my handy-dandy lithium battery mini jump start kit (Harbor Freight special)
and we got the car going. Meanwhile, Karen contacted a Subaru dealer in
Pensacola and they got us right in. The service there (Anderson Subaru) was
outstanding. They tested and replaced the battery right in the service
department driveway and had us on our way within an hour. The icing on the cake
was they replaced the battery for free because the car was still under
warranty!
Then we
headed east to meet up with George and Roxanne and spend the next week with
them at their property near Pinetta, FL.
They call
their place SOGANOFLA. Look at a map of Florida and find the town of Pinetta,
and you can see where the name came from. Their lot is a few miles off the
beaten path at the end of a sandy unpaved road. The patio deck overlooks the
Withlacoochee River. They brought their Aliner, so we have a small ‘wagon
train’ of Aliners parked here. They have no house on the lot, but there’s
electricity, a great covered patio, a deck and a high tech composting toilet.
We got there late in the day on Friday and had a light dinner and went to bed.
At about
midnight, Karen woke me up and said she thought George’s patio structure was on
fire. When the cobwebs finally cleared, I looked out the window and it looked
like the patio was fully engulfed in flames. We stumbled out of the Aliner as
Karen was calling across the yard for George to wake up (his Aliner is parked
under the patio). George (Roxanne was not due to arrive until the next day)
came out of his trailer.
We then
realized it was not the patio, but it was a neighbor’s house that was fully on
fire. There were flames shooting up nearly 100 feet in the air and catching
nearby trees on fire. In this heavily wooded area, we were concerned that a
forest fire could start. Karen grabbed a garden hose and started spraying the
trees near us while George called 911.
By then, the
first volunteer fire companies started to show up. The house was nearly burnt
to the ground by that time, but there was a solid bed of coals continuing to
glow. In all, about three or four pumper trucks showed up and put an end to the
fire. They were there for most of the night and we turned in for a fitful
night’s sleep.
The next
morning, George and I briefly spoke to the homeowner, who showed us photos of
the music studio that was part of the house that had burnt down. Inside were
electric guitars, a drum set, and various sound systems. It was a sad
situation.
Roxanne
arrived later that morning and we did some stand up paddle boarding, hiking, swimming,
fishing, and bicycling over the next few days. Roxanne and George are very
gracious hosts and they really helped us make the transition from city-slickers
to backwoods campers. They prepared us delicious meals for breakfast, lunch and
dinner (including handpicked blueberries and a fresh homemade berry pie Roxanne
brought with her). And they each know a lot about the local flora and fauna and
have great stories to tell about their travels and adventures.
George’s dog,
Zone, is a real expert outdoorsdog. She goes everywhere with George and Roxanne
and provides daily entertainment. Zone was joined this week by two local dogs
and they all went with us on our hikes. Zone is also a skilled paddleboarder
and canoeist and she demonstrated those skills during our stay.
RAINDROPS
KEEP FALLING ON MY HEAD…
This past
week at SOGANOFLA we had some pretty wet weather come in, especially in the
afternoons when the thunderstorms came through. This gave us the chance to sit
on the patio and watch the rain come down over the river. One of the days, we
bicycled into Pinetta to pick up some ice. Along the bike trail on our return
trip, George harvested some fallen branches (with his electric chain saw) and
brought back firewood in the bike trailer.
Karen was
able to get cell service long enough to make reservations at Skidaway Island
State Park near Savannah, GA. We’re going to visit Savannah, Charleston SC, and
Winston-Salem NC over the next several days. Then, we’re going to rejoin
Roxanne and George at their property near Barnardsville, NC.
Next: Savannah.
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