The Last Leg

Our vehicle has been restored to health and we are on the road again...(Thank you, Joe and Sheri, for your generous hospitality!  We had a wonderful time in Mt. Dora and would love to visit again.)

The core of our trip this year has been to reconnect with each other, our family and both old and new friends.  We have experienced gracious hospitality, tear-rendering laughter, much needed rest, exhausting fun and, as always, abundant blessings from God above!

We had to travel almost 1,600 miles to find time to have dinner with friends from the UP!  But it was well worth the trip!  We truly enjoyed our personal tour of St. Augustine and our dinner at Chianti.  In fact, St. Augustine has been moved to the "list" of places we would revisit.

Day five of Disney World took us on a return trip to the Magic Kingdom for one last day to be a Princess, visit Princesses, getting that special "Buzz" and, of course, SHOPPING!  Saving the best for last...and not wanting to carry all those gifts all over Florida!

Karsten had the opportunity to meet her Uncle Russell and we met the rest of his family for the first time. An evening of reminiscing, getting reacquainted, laughter and new memories. 

We returned to Belleair Shores, Florida after 14 years.  It was good to see the Gulf Coast and this beautiful white heron sitting along the rail of the balcony of our hotel. We had a great time at the Palm Pavilion, having dinner right on the beach, in this unique venue that was established in 1926.  Karsten suggested the restaurant.  It was a place she visited with Ella on their Florida trip.  She has had so many incredible experiences already, we cannot wait to see what her future holds!

In our journey north we stopped in Ocalla for a short visit with a retiree from the Porcupine Mountains.  How fun to catch up.  It must be nice to spend your days lazing around the pool:)

On December 13, we decided to do one long day of driving and made it all the way to Dalton, Georgia.  Good planning as we found an outlet mall to shop and even got in early enough to go to see New Year's Eve. 

Today we visited the Mammoth Caves.  The caves are 392 miles long!  No we didn't walk the whole thing, only about 3/4 of a mile and that took 2 hours!  The Frozen Niagara is beautiful.  Then on to dinner with our niece and nephew, Amanda and Nick.  During his teenage years, Nick came up for the summer to help out at Mountain View.  We haven't seen Amanda in many years.  It was great to spend some time with them.  You know how you always remember people at the age you last saw them?  It was so odd to have dinner with them as adults.  My how grown up they are.

Tomorrow we make the journey back to Illinois for another quick visit with Julie and her family and to pick up Rick's Black Friday purchases:) and pick up Mom before heading back to the UP.

Thanks for reading the blog and thank you for keeping us in your prayers.