Florida 2007 and 2008

Judy and Lee Riley with Nicky

We left PA on Dec. 26,2007 and arrived in Florida Dec. 31th. Our first week was spent in Venice using a Thousand Trails ELS pass. We fell in love with the area there is a beautiful beach there and you don't have to go through traffic to get there. Historic Venice is lovely with lots of nice shops and cafes. The park was called Rambler's Rest . Our next stop was Pioneer Village in North Fort Myers. The main attraction during that week was watching the Manatees. Jim and Tracy Tull were with us and we really enjoyed their company. We were off next to Fort Myers beach and met Carol and Lou Hands there. We spent a lot of time just visiting with one another since we hadn't seen each other since last winter. Next we were off to Peace River in Wauchula. We love this town. It sits in the middle of ranches and orange groves and is a small town that makes you feel like you've taken a step back in time. We were reunited here with the many friends we've made over our 4 years wintering in Florida. We left Wauchula and went to Largo. Here we were able to spent a couple of days with friends of ours from Canada (Wayne and Candice) We had a lovely day bike riding with them and shared a dinner with them. While in this area we were also able to visit with Janie and Lou Keller a couple from our church at home who just recently moved to Clearwater.

From this point on we alternated between the Venice campground and Peace River. We were in Wauchula for Easter and were able to go to the church we love here call First Christian. On good Friday we attended a Passion Play in Wauchula which was fantastic. It was an incredible experience. We also had a lovely Easter dinner with two of our favorite couples-----Keith and Marie and Harry and Karen. While in Wauchula we were able to visit with Jan and Rick, Rich and Donna, Jane and Jim, Bob and Julie, Dennis and Barb and met a lot of new people this year also.

This is really a very brief summary of what we've been up to so we're basically planning to start from here. This past week has been great because we've been able to spent a lot of time with Jim and Jane whom we just adore and Jim and Tracy who we've been ELS ing with. We're very excited for Jim and Jane and their upcoming cruise and their visit home.

Tomorrow we will begin heading north slowly. Our first stop will be Kissimmee, Florida.