Mom

Gail and Mike joined us here at Mom’s to help celebrate Mom’s 80th birthday tomorrow.

We have had an absolutely wonderful time here — at least until the intense heat moved in.  Yesterday Gail and I went to Lake City to shop.  The heat drained and exhausted us.  Today was supposed to be in the low 90’s, but when we were in town today, the bank thermometer read 97.  It was almost more than we could handle.

Gail bought a cargo van and started renovating it into a camper van.  She didn’t have time to finish it before the trip, but we are all amazed at what a fantastic job she has done on it so far.  She had installed an air conditioner with a vent through the floor.  But the heat didn’t exhaust properly and it got

Guys picking magnolias for Mom

dangerously hot, so she had to disconnect it.  Needless to say, camping in 97 degree weather with no air conditioner is beyond miserable.

The nights are cooling off enough that they can sleep with fans.  But the heat is taking a toll on all of us.  We have decided not to ever come to Florida between April and November again unless it is an absolute emergency.

Bouquet of wild phlox with magnolia

It was such a joy to see the wild phlox carpeting the sides of the roads here.  I’ve never seen that anywhere else except Florida.  Mike picked a bouquet of them yesterday for Gail.

And the magnolias are blooming.  Such magnificent flowers with a heavenly, sweet scent.  The guys picked some for Mom, as they are too high for her to reach, and she gave us each one to put in our campers.

Tomorrow is her birthday. I’ll try to upload more people pictures tomorrow.  My cell signal is very weak tonight and it’s taking forever.

Gail's van

Interior of Gail's van so far