Wed., March 11 - We are now in a very large r.v. park north of Orlando, just outside of the town of Eustis. Look it up on the map, and you may find it. We came to this area because someone we met told us about a place called Mount Alma, which she said was a really neat little town. We're about 8 miles from the place, so plan to visit it tomorrow.

Eustis is a nice little town, located on a lake (Lake Eustis, wouldn't you know!) with a lovely waterfront. The town has suffered the fate of many small towns across the world, evidenced by a walk around the main core. Several empty  store fronts sadly attest to the declline of the town. Two miles out of town, near our park, are two large grocery stores and two of the drug store chains, which have obviously diverted a lot of shopping from the main street of town. In order to try to bring commerce back, the town has constructed a really nice walkway over the water along the lake front, and they're in the process of redeveloping a large park area on the waterfront. Good luck to them.

Today Anna and Gail and I walked to the Trout Lake Nature Park, and did some nice walking around a fine cypress forest. Not much action so far as wildlife, but it was a nice outing, with two very good buildings full of interesting displays. Then Gail and I walked into town while Anna headed back to the park (she doesn't handle the heat very well, and it's quite warm today). We tried to spur the local economy along by having lunch downtown, after taking a look at an anhinga nest with three little ones, newly hatched. By the time we got back to our rig, we'd put in about 12 kms on foot, so were ready for chairs and a book.

About this park. It's huge. More than 900 r,v, sites, and another 400 permanent sites. There are three sections to the park, three rec halls, swimming pools, shuffleboard, bocci courts, and a vigorous activity program. It's a small town, really, about the size of Wellington in terms of winter population. Wednesday breakfast (we didn't know you have to buy tickets ahead of time, so went home empty), Thursday lunch, Friday dinner, and entertainment quite frequently. We'll do bingo tomorrow night, as Anna got a kick out of it in Homosassa. There's no end of things to do. Good thing, 'cause there isn't much to do in the area, unless you want to head into Orlando. Is this the life for us? Categorically, at this stage of our young lives, NO! There's good spirit here, and the people are friendly, but we're not ready to join the shuffleboard brigade just yet.

It's been great having Anna along. Lots of games, jug saw puzzles, just fun having her along. Then we move to Kissimmee to our time share, and wait for the kids to show up. We've done some biking, a lot of walking, just putting in the time in pretty good weather. I've been feeling pretty well since the hospital adventure, although there are still traces of the abdominal problem, but the main thing has been big problems with sinuses. I finally got a pharmacist to recommend something that I think will work, based on last night's experience. Previously, I was up in the middle of the night hardly able to breathe. This is pollen season, and if you're allergic, it's pretty tough to deal with.

Bottom line, I think we'll head home as soon as the kids are on their way after March break. We're ready to head north. We also are sad to learn that Jan Munn, one of our good friends, had a fall recently and did some serious damage to herself. We wish her all the best during this difficult time. It's been that kind of winter. So it'll be good to get back to hearth and home.

Below, a couple of pictures of mother anhinga ( a bird similar to the cormorant) with her chicks, and a sizable water snake coiled up on an old pier post. And that's it for now. More later. Stay tuned.