Leaving Florida and Heading Back To Texas

Hi,

It was now December 26th and I was making my way back to Texas. I said so long to John....I enjoyed my stay very much- Thank you. I left about 10:00 a.m. and traveled until about 11 p.m. that night. I ran into a very bad t-storm earlier that evening in Mississippi. I stopped and had dinner, at that time, to avoid the bad driving conditions. Then when the rain let up I continued until I got to Louisiana. I stop at a rest area and took a nap. Around 3 a.m. I started back out on I-10. I made it to San Antonio by 9 a.m. I stayed at a local motel for the remainder of that day and night- getting some much needed rest.

The next morning I headed north on I-35 to Nolanville. This is located near Killeen. This is where Tommy was now staying. He had called me the day before when he heard I was back in Texas. (We didn't get to visit very long after his arrival back home from Iraq, and he asked if we could get together for a bit.) So..... instead of heading straight to San Angelo (my intended next stop) I was going north again!! LOL I arrived in Nolansville around 1p.m. I was introduced to Tommy's friends and then we were off to do some shopping and getting a bite to eat. My visit with Tommy was great. We really had a nice time....lots of laughing, and catching up. After a good nights sleep, I packed up the SUV, went out to lunch with Tommy, then headed west to my next stop San Angelo.

The drive to San Angelo was nice. I had beautiful weather and there wasn't much traffic on the route I took. The only problem I ran into is that I hit an area that had no phone service (for about 1 hour). This is only the 2nd time since I've started my travels that this has happened...so I very fortunate...I have a good cell phone provider!!

I arrived in San Angelo on December 29th about 5:30 p.m. I will be here for about 3 - 4 weeks visiting with my friend Jullie and checking out the area. So until next time- take care everyone and be safe!! - Love Donna

SEE PICTURES IN ALBUM #102:http://picasaweb.google.com/Pandadmd5880
Tags: FL, TX

Horses, Cats & Dogs of Ocala

Hi Everyone......

On December 20th, I accompanied John to Ocala. He had an appointment that day so I decided to go exploring while he was busy.

I came to the center of town and saw a small garden / square there. I also spied several horse statues.....very similar to the other art statues I have encountered along the way on my walkabout. So I just "HAD TO" stop and investigate!!! LOL

I finally found a parking space, got out and started taking pictures of these horses. In the same area, there was a woman who had a hotdog stand. I found out this woman and her hotdog stand are a well known fixture in the area, and there have been several newspaper articles written about her in the local papers. I asked her if there were anymore horse statues in the area, so I could get their pictures too. She directed me to the visitors center across the street and the Marion Cultural Alliance- down on another street. I thanked her and was on my way to find more horses.

I first went to the visitors center....where I saw a statue of a sm colt. I took it's picture, but there was no literature there that I could see about the horses, and no one was in the office at the time I was there. The visitors center was in same building as Chamber of Commerce, and they had a receptionist. She was very nice and pointed out another horse with in that building, and told me I would be able to get the most information from the Cultural Center......so after taking some more pictures I was off to find the Cultural Center.

I found the center, and within a few minutes was talking to the director. Her name is Nancy Ledding. Nancy was very helpful (as was her staff). Nancy explained that the horses were part of an exhibit called “Horse Fever” She allowed me access to the two horses they had there....then explained where I could find the remaining ones that were still in the area. Most had been auctioned off and moved already. We got to talking and I explained about my travels and how I had come upon several different types of this charity art work. She told me about another project ( a current one) that the Center was working on... it was called “Barkitecture“. It is art statues of cats & dogs and scaled model dog houses that have been displayed through out the Ocala area...and they will be auction off on February 2nd, 2008. The proceeds will help the Cultural Center and the Humane Society of Marion County. Nancy told me I was in luck because the upcoming weekend all of the pieces would be at the old library on display for all to see!! Well needless to say I was very excited with this news, and started to make plans to be back in Ocala that weekend. She also told me about a project going on in California (a state that I'm traveling to very soon) that will have statues of giant tortoises. She even gave me a contact name to reach once I get out there. Nancy said that Anne would be able to tell me where I could find all the pieces...so I'm very excited about seeing these statues too!!!

On Saturday, John & I arrived at the old library. We were greeted by Roseanne and Elsie, then we began to walk around enjoying the very creative works of art on display. I took many pictures - as you'll see above- and then we stopped to talk with Roseanne & Elsie some more. Come to find out they were mother and daughter. Roseanne (the daughter) is very active on the committee that came up with the idea for this project....and it was a family thing...because Roseanne's husband even lent his talents in building one of the dog houses! I told them about my travels and how I had seen other works of art...and how much I have come to enjoy looking for them. After spending almost 2hrs there we decided it was time to leave. This was a very enjoyable experience. I encourage all to check in their local areas to see if any such projects are in the works or have been done in their areas. These beautiful works of art are so wonderful to look at and experience!

Well until my next entry...take care everyone- enjoy and be safe!! - Love Donna

SEE PICTURES IN ALBUM #101:http://picasaweb.google.com/Pandadmd5880

***** For more info on:

The Marion Cultural Alliance see:

www.mcaocala.com

The horses see:

www.horsefever.org

The Barkitecture see:

www.dogtownflorida.com

Tags: Ocala, FL

St. Augustine 12/18/07

Hi Everyone...

Back again.....

My next adventure was to St. Augustine, FL. John & I drove over to the east coast to check out this historic area.

We first visited the beach, then was heading toward the State Park. On the way to state park we spotted the St. Augustine Light. As most people know I love light houses, so of course we had to stop!! LOL

When you first enter this area- there is a gift shop that has a room with a lot of memorabilia. Then you can go up to the light house and actually go into the tower. Just inside the light house is a museum type setting of actually rooms & artifacts used when the light house was manned. Then we climbed up all 217 steps to the very top!! The we strolled (LOL- well I actually crept holding onto the wall of tower- I'm deathly afraid of heights LOL) around the top of the light house...this was such an awesome experience!!!! Not only did I get to go into the lighthouse (most you can only view from outside), but I actually made it to the very top and walked around the watch-walk!!! The view was beautiful.

I hope you enjoy the pictures as much as I enjoyed taking them- Love Donna

SEE PICTURES IN ALBUM #100:http://picasaweb.google.com/Pandadmd5880

Tags: St. Augustine, FL

Shane's Going Away Party

Hi Ya'll,

The next thing I did while in FLA was to attend the going away party for Shane, my cousin Mia's son. He was leaving that day for basic training- he had joined the Navy. It was great to see everyone. I surprised my mom, aunt & uncle as they did not know I was back in FLA...LOL

The Party was held at my cousin Michael's restaurant - Fatty N' Mabels... (Michael is Shane's uncle).

There were a few tears as Shane said his goodbyes....but party the came to a happy close. I love you all- it was great seeing you again!!-Donna

SEE PICTURES IN ALBUM #99:http://picasaweb.google.com/Pandadmd5880
Tags: Port Richey, FL

Crystal River, FL

Hi Everyone,

I made it to Florida safely. Rested up for a few days waiting for the shuttle launch- the launch ended up getting canceled until January.

I decided to find some things to do in the central and upper part of Florida. I was going to be staying with my friend John in Summerfield for about 2 1/2 weeks.

Our first trip was to the Crystal River area. We were looking for an area to see manatee's, but we weren't very successful finding them. LOL

But we did find quite a few other interesting things to see. Our 1st stop was a whoops stop....I thought I had been told that the power plant area was the place to see manatee's...so we headed that way. Well we got onto the road to the power plant and realized it wasn't what we wanted but by that time we were unable to turn around....so we ended up having to go thru security. LOL So now I'm not only on the radar in Mexico & Canada...but here in the States!! LOL After being released from the security station we headed out on our search again. We ended up at the Crystal River Archaeological State Park. This park was small and quaint. It had a lot of information and artifacts from early Native Americans that lived in the area.

After walking around for awhile...we moved on down the road. We ended up at the Crystal River Beach. This is a small, clean almost private type beach. There was a boardwalk and a jetty to enjoy. There were tons of birds resting on the beach...it was great to be able to get that close to them. We finished off the day with dinner at the Golden Corral.

It was a great day and very relaxing.

Ok off to get my other entries ready...Take care folks....and I'll be back in touch soon.

Love Donna

SEE PICTURES IN ALBUM #98:http://picasaweb.google.com/Pandadmd5880
Tags: Crystal River, FL