After leaving Louisiana we headed to Texas to visit with our friends, Pastor Mike and Liz Hooper.  They live in North Houston area and Pastor a church in Livingston.  They met us at the RV park the night we got there and brought us dinner.  We were so thankful for this as we were too tired to cook.  The next day we rode to their house where we caught up on the years since we last saw each other.  Mike got a ride on the motorcycle and he had such a wide smile as they rode off.

We spent several hours visiting in their beautiful back yard beside the pool.  It was such a lovely day we didn’t go inside.  We were supposed to make it back to their house that Saturday to visit with them and their daughter’s family, but I felt sick and we did not make it back.   I really wanted to visit with Destiny and see her two beautiful daughters.  Sorry, Destiny, I really did want to see you and your family.  I hope that we will get a chance to meet up again some day.  Love you lots.

Mike and Liz, it was great seeing you and we really had a great time visiting your church on Sunday.  Mike, you still have the fire, and we really enjoyed the Word that you shared.  Let us know when you are on the west coast and we may travel to where you are to see you.  May God bless you richly as you work for Him.  Love you lots.

Here are some pictures of the Livingston, Texas, area close to where their church is located.  It is right by Lake Livingston which is pretty good-sized.  Here are some pictures that we took.

While we were in the area we also spent some time in Huntsville visiting some museums.  The first one we went to was the Sam Houston Memorial Museum.  It was in a beautiful settings with multiple old buildings, a small stream, and duck pond.  It was really interesting to find out more about Mr. Houston.  He is the only man to serve as the governor of two different states.  He led the fight for independence of Texas then served as President of the Republic of Texas, became State Senator, then became Governor.    Here are some of the pictures that we took of the Museum and also the Education Center on the same grounds.

While in the area we stopped at Huntsville State Park.  It was a very beautiful area on a lake with great campsites.  I would like to go back sometime and stay there.  I really liked the enclosed picnic areas on each of the sites by the lake.

One of the last days we were in the area we went to the Texas Prison Museum.  It was a very small museum but very interesting.  They had a lot of items that the prisoners have made in their shops over the years.  Some of them were beautiful.  They also had pictures of some of the famous people who were in the prison. They had one of the old electric chairs as well.

Well, that is all for this blog.  My next one will be about the time I spent with my oldest brother, Dr. Cliff Friesen, former Colonel Friesen of the Army, and his family.  We also took time for some sightseeing around the area of Fort Hood in Texas.  We are now back home in Washington so I have not taken much time to work on my blogs, but I will try to complete the last portion of my trip soon.  Talk in a little while…..

First thing I must do is apologize for being so far behind in creating my posts.  We have been spending most of our time since my last post visiting friends and family.  So we haven’t had much down time to get these posts done.  We are currently in Redlands, CA.  For those of you from other states, this is in Southern California near Riverside.  I will attempt to get my posts up soon so you can catch up on my trips.

We pulled in Robert and met our friends, Mike and Jane Smith, at the campground.  They had recently purchased an RV and wanted to make a trial run before a longer trip.  When I was talking to Jane about meeting up with them in Texas we discovered that they would be on a trip to Arizona at the time we wanted to visit.  So they decided to make their maiden voyage in their RV and meet us in Louisiana.  For those of you from Washington, you might remember back many years to the time we sang in a group called Living Water with them.  We traveled around the state giving concerts and sharing the Good News of God’s love and salvation.

We decided that we wanted to take a Swamp tour.  So we made reservations to go through Cajun Encounters.  We were expecting lots of alligators and we were disappointed in that we only say one little one.  However, we saw a whole lot of wild pigs.  The guides had food for them and them fed them from the side of the boat right by where we were sitting.  In was kind of scary when one started to climb into one of the boats but they were not able to get in.  We did see some raccoons and turtles as well. Hope you enjoy the pictures.

After our friends left we took a ride around town and decided to stop at an Alligator Farm.  What we found was so much more than just alligators.  They had lizards, turtles, a 90 pound snapping turtle, a Nile crocodile, raccoons, and even some donkeys.  But they had a LOT of alligators.  The guide’s name was T-Mike and he was very knowledgeable about all the animals there.  This place was Kliebert’s Turtle and Alligator Farm.  T-Mike’s father was one of the original men on the TV show Swamp People.

The first place we went to see was a building where they had baby gators, lizards, snakes, and more.  Tony and I were able to hold a baby gators.  Even the kids on the tour with us were allowed to hold them.  They just sat quietly in your hands if you were holding them as T-Mike showed us.  They had a black and white Argentine lizard, turtles, and a python as well.  They had tanks with a lot of really small baby gators and pens with some that were bigger but not enough to go out into the ponds.  The alligator by the sign is not real, just wanted to let you know that.  LOL

We then went outside to see the other animals.  They had a pen with quite a few raccoons and then they even had a fox and burros.

Then we went to see the Snapping turtle and the tortoises.  The snapping turtle weighs in at 90 pounds and can take your hand off if you are not careful.  When he snaps his jaw you hear a loud snapping sound, hence the name.  LOL

Finally, we got to the ponds.  In a section all by himself was the Nile crocodile who looks like he has grass growing from his back.  Interesting to see an animal there from Africa, but the explanation is that this farm takes rescue animals.  They used to raise alligators for commercial use such as food, boots, and purses.  However, they now just take in gators that have become a nuisance somewhere, are injured, or found on roads, etc.  They even took in one that had lost the bottom half of his jaw.  They need to feed him separately since he is unable to catch the food when they throw it out.

T-Mike is the guy sitting on the gator and with his hand on the gator’s top jaw.  He says that during the winter the gators are really slow as they are slowing down their metabolism to compensate for the colder weather.  He said he can’t do the same things in the summer as they are really fast during warm weather.  The fellow in the blue shirt had a gator grab him by the hand and start rolling.  Because of this ordeal he lost all 4 fingers and his thumb is at an odd angle.  You can see his left hand in the picture.

When we were leaving Louisiana we went over the Mississippi River.  I thought you might enjoy the pictures but for some reason I was unable to upload the images for quite a while.  Then when went to publish they just showed up.  I even got one of a Mississippi riverboat.  So here they are.  Our next adventure will be in Texas visiting friends and family.  Talk again soon.

We drove down to the Gulf Coast to see Gulf State Park.  We found out that most of the appeal to this park were the ponds, beaches, and the pier.   Some of the trees were almost growing sideways.  One of the pictures below I had to take sideways to get the entire tree in the picture.  There was a boardwalk to went over the road to the beach.  It was too much walking for me so we decided to find the pier by road.

By the pier we found the most beautiful beach.  The white sand of the gulf coast was a great contrast to the ocean water and waves.

The seagulls and birds were everywhere.  We decided to walk out on the pier to the very end.  It took a while but it was worth it.  We stopped and rested several times and took that time to quiz the fisherman lining the pier about what they were catching.  Many of them said they had not been catching anything but a few had caught some.  When we got to the end I took some pictures back toward the beach.  We also got to see a plane towing a banner.  First time I have ever seen one so I had to take a picture.  Couldn’t get both the banner and the plane in the same picture so here is the banner…  LOL

As we walked toward the end of the pier we passed a fish cleaning station with several people who were cleaning their fish.  They were throwing all the offal to the birds.  I did get some pictures of the birds catching their food but it is hard to see what they are actually doing.  However, I thought you might enjoy pictures of some of the birds.

When we left the pier we headed out one of the spits of land that went out into the bay.  Note the houses on stilts due to the possibility of hurricanes and flooding.  There were a fort and museum on the end of this spit that we were planning on seeing.  When we got to the fort we discovered that both of them were closing soon and we really didn’t have time to view it all in the time left.  We decided to go back the next day but the weather turned bad so we decided to stay home.  We never did make it back.  But here are the pictures we took on our drive.

The next leg of our trip is on to Robert, Louisiana.   See ya soon.

As we left Florida we crossed over the bay and then we stopped at Robertsdale, Alabama.  The next day we headed toward the towns of Fairhope and Daphne.  We had been told about a pier that was open to the public.  We found this pier but it didn’t look like we could gain access.  So we stopped and ate at the Sunset Grille which was on the end of that pier.  Tony has seafood and I had the best burger I have had in a very long time.  Later we found out that this place was featured on the Food Network.

As we drove around town looking for the public pier we saw a great deal of beautiful buildings and scenery.  The city of Fairhope had a beautiful sign made of plants and flowers as you entered and there were lots of large oak trees.  We found an old church and some old plantation style homes.  Didn’t have time to get pictures of all of them as we drove past but I did get a few pictures to share.

As we drove further down the bay we finally found the public pier.  There was a beautiful park by the pier with great picnic areas on both sides.  The pier itself had a restaurant in the middle and boats docked beside it.  We even found a boat with a pirate flag on it.  We walked most of the way out on the pier and I took some pictures of the shore.  It was a really gorgeous day and the scenery was fantastic.

There were some ducks beside the pier and we enjoyed watching them for a while.  On the way back to the bike I stopped to listen to a street musician playing and signing his guitar.  He asked for a request and I asked him to play amazing grace.  He didn’t seem to know it well so I started to sing along.  Still didn’t get the chords so we talked a little before I left.   I also told him to follow my blog.  So I am hoping that he is reading this today.

Well, I thank God that we had such a wonderful day.  Tomorrow we plan on driving further down the bay to the gulf coast.   Bye for now.

While in the panhandle of Florida we discovered that we were not far from another Florida State Park.  So we decided to take a ride to check it out.

When we got there we did not see anything much to look out.  We found out that this park was a result of multiple sinkholes.  We previously saw the great big sinkhole at the National Corvette Museum in Greenville, Kentucky.  This kind of made me nervous knowing that I was close to multiple ones.  But we had nothing to worry about, they have been there for years and no one was in danger.  The Florida government would not have made it a state park if it was something dangerous.  Whew, rational thought finally reasserted itself.

The sinkholes were a ways down on a trail, so once again I was hiking along the board walks.  Everyone who knows me knows that it is difficult for me to walk any distance.  I was hoping that the falling water was close by.  We passed some sinkholes without water and were overgrown so I know that the episode that caused these happened a long time ago.  Here are the pictures that I took of them.

As we wandered farther down the trail we finally reached the Falling Water.  What, you really call that falling water.  There was just a trickle of water over the lip of the sinkhole which was disappointing as I really like waterfalls and was expecting one.  Oh well, I am sure that other times of the year there is more water there.  However, the interesting part of the hole itself and the fact that they have never discovered where the water actually goes.  This is the highest waterfall in the state of Florida and is 73 feet down to the bottom of the sinkhole.  The round hole was really interesting.

Well, now that I have survived my adventure with the sinkholes I am on the way to the state of Alabama to enjoy more beautiful beaches.  Talk soon.

Leaving Georgia we headed back toward the panhandle of Florida.  We are now on the last half of our journey around the United States.   We are heading across the southern states and then, starting at San Diego, working our way up the west coast to Washington.

I thank God for the opportunity to see our glorious country.  There are so many beautiful spots that I had never heard of before this trip.  Some of our favorite places were ones that we just happened by on the road.  God’s creation is just marvelous and our God is so gracious to provide us with such a wonderful place to live.

We stayed in a town called Fountain which was not far from Panama City.  We went to St. Andrews State Park which had beaches, alligators, and a great little visitor center.  The beaches have the beautiful white sand that Florida is famous for.  The water is not as warm as it was in December so I put my toe into the water but kept my boots on.  LOL   I wanted to say I had put my foot into the Gulf of Mexico as well as the Atlantic Ocean.  So now I can claim to have done that.

To reach the beach we had to climb the steps over the dunes.  What a breathtaking sight when we go to the top of the steps.  The sight was so beautiful.  The weather was cold so there were only a few people here and there on the beach.   There was also a small gift shop there and out the back of that building they had board walks to a viewing area.  This makes it possible for people with wheelchairs and scooters to see the beaches.   I recommend this beach for you to see if you are ever in Panama City area.

As we drove around the park we saw a sign that said alligator pond.  So we walked down the boardwalk and discovered a pond, but no alligators.  It was too cold for them to come out so we walked away disappointed.  However, we have seen an abundance of them on our trip already so we were not too upset.  We knew that there would be other opportunities for us to se them as we go across the other southern states.

We drove out to the visitor center by the gate to use their facilities before heading back to the RV and discovered a wealth of information and displays inside.  They had section where they displayed the seashells that could be found on Florida beaches.  Some of them were ones I had never seen and others are also common on West Coast beaches.  The variety was astounding and I have included pictures of some of them.

They also had displays of fish and wildlife that were indigenous to the Panama City area.  Everything from bears to rattlesnakes and even butterflies were on display.

Our next adventure is to explore other areas around the panhandle of Florida and maybe find another state park close by.  Hang on for the next big adventure.

When we got to Georgia it was really cold.  We were camped about 30 miles from Rebecca’s house and she was so kind to let us use Jake’s truck since he was deployed.  The temperature was down to 19 one night and didn’t get much warmer during the day so we were really thankful for the truck.

The first Saturday we were there we went to a place called Go Fish.  It was an educational center created by the State of Georgia that had information and training on how to fish and also a hatchery.  There was so much to do there and the boys really enjoyed their time there.

The first thing we did was try out the fishing simulators.  They had fishing poles on part of a boat and screens showing the water and fish.  The simulator had different skill levels and even the easy one wasn’t as easy as I expected.  They had freshwater and saltwater simulators and the difference between the two was a lot.  I tried to pull in one of the fish on the saltwater one and took me a long time and my arms were really sore afterward.  They were really like in real life.  The boys really enjoyed this part and so did the rest of us.

The had life-size models of all the fish on the walls so you could see what you were trying to catch.  Some of them were really huge.

There was several tanks that we could look into that had live fish.  Behind a glass wall there were more tanks with different kinds of fish that they are raising in the hatchery.

There was also a section with hunting simulators where they could practice shooting squirrels, deer, and other animals.  They also had a stuffed bear and some birds.

But the best part of the whole place was the fishing pond in the back.  They provide the rod, reels, and bait.  No license is required but it is catch and release.  The boys and Rebecca fished for quite a while.  Tony and I fished for a little while but it was too cold for us so we went inside.  The boys really enjoyed the fishing and they all plan on going back again to fish.

We had so much fun playing games and watching movies.  Rebecca and I worked on our crocheting and jewelry making while visiting.  She told me that she didn’t bake because she burned everything so I decided to teach her to bake cookies.  The boys deserved to be able to have home-made cookies.  So I made sure we had the ingredients and then told them that it would be a contest.  The boys would make one batch and Rebecca would make another one.  Then I would judge which one was the best.  Guess what, they both tasted the same and I taught them how to tell if they were done.  I also explained that not all ovens are the same even if you put them at the same temperature.  They are not all accurate.  So either the boys or her can make cookies now.

Since both Alex and I have a birthday in January we had a party.  Rebecca bought cupcakes but accidentally dropped them so the frosting stuck to the top of the container.  She put the frosting back on them and we named them Zombie Cupcakes.

Well, next we move on to Fountain, Florida and the beach of the Gulf Coast.  Bye for now.

We went to visit my niece Annette and her family for a few days.  They live in the country outside of Zephyrhills, Florida on a 5 acre place with pastures for the cows they raise for meat.  Annette is a doctor and her husband, Glenn, is a contractor in the roofing business.  That means he is busy in Florida after the hurricane.  They have three girls, Angela, Melody, and Julia.  Julia is six and the other two are in college.  They were home for the Christmas holidays so I was able to spend time with all of them.

We were able to park the motorhome beside their home while there.  We told them we were going to call it the Williams RV Park since their RV was there as well.

We spent time playing games and making puzzles as well as watching movies and just talking.  I have not been able to spend time with their family for many years so it was great to catch up.  We had a wonderful time with all of them.  We also went to church with them and got to hear Melody lead worship.  What a blessing that was, she is really an awesome worship leader.  Angela has graduated with an advertising and graphic design degree but has decided to change to pre med.  So proud of these two girls.  They are such wonderful and fun-loving girls with a heart for God.   Love you Angela and Melody!!   Had so much fun with you and miss you already.  Hope you are following my blog.  Julia is a one of kind sweetheart.  She is so lively and funny and was always entertaining us every minute.  Love you Julia!  Annette and Glenn, thank you for opening your home to us.  We are so blessed to connect with you again after all these years.  Hope to see you in Washington soon.

We went with Annette and the girls to a local mall to see the Christmas lights put to music by Manheim Steamroller.  It was really awesome music and show even though is was a little cold.  Yes, it was cold in Florida since it was evening…   There is one picture of Annette and me sitting waiting for the show to begin.  I am the wrapped in multiple layers.  Here are some of the pictures we took there.

On Saturday we went to Busch Gardens with the three girls.  What an experience!  I discovered that Angela and I shared a love for roller coasters and this place had a bunch of them.  Angela picked the two best ones and we went on those.  I had rented a scooter since I am not able to do a lot of walking.  So we went right to the head of the lines.  When we got on top at the first one she asked them if we could be on the front and they said yes.  So cool…  This floorless coaster has two plunges straight down from 200 feet up and it was so awesome.  When the ride was over she asked if we could go again and again, they said yes.  So we didn’t even get off and rode again.   How cool is that???

The second one we did the same things but could not be up front since I needed a wider seat and it was only on the third row..  Oh well, we got to ride twice in a row again.  This one has loops and corkscrews and all sorts of scary things.  However, I wasn’t scared, it was exhilarating.

While we were on the rides Tony and Melody took Julia to the children’s section so she could go on her rides.  They also took her to get her face painted.

We all took a ride on the train that went through the zoo areas.  We saw so many wild animals in their environments.  It was so great to see them in wild open areas where they could run and be semi free.

After this we went back to Georgia to spend more time with Tony’s sister Rebecca and her boys.   Back at you soon.

I wanted to dip my toe into the Atlantic Ocean so I asked my brother to take us there instead of the Gulf Coast.  I knew that I would have my chance to see the Gulf Coast later in my trip and I really wanted to go to the Atlantic Ocean.  I had been on other beaches on the Atlantic but the water was way to cold to walk into.  So Vernon and Jeanette took me to Fort Pierce so go to the beach.  Yippee!!!!

Before we went to the beach we stopped at the St Lucie County Aquarium and Museum.  The aquarium is used by the Smithsonian for their research on the marine ecosystems of the Florida coast.  Even though it was small, it was a treasure.  So many fantastic things to see there.  There was a different display for each type of ecosystem on the coast of Florida.   They had guides to personally take you through the displays and explain each system.  At the first display they had a touch tank with a small stingray, some hermit crabs, starfish, sea cucumbers, sea urchins,  and other small fish.  They even had fish that can give you a manicure.  They had slots for you to put you finger in and they would nibble off the extra skin on you cuticles.  My brother stuck his finger in and they did actually nibble on his fingers.

Then they main display had a large variety of sea creatures and fish.  They were so interesting to watch.  Some of them swam so fast and didn’t stop so I had a had time catching a good picture.  However, between us we did get their picture.  They are the small ones with the orange stripes.  So many different ecosystems and each one has a different type of life.  One tank has mangrove trees and different fish.  You have the coral reef with bright-colored fish.  One of them has lots of seaweed and small fish.  Some have crabs and other sea creatures.  They even had a shark egg and are trying to hatch it.  They also have Nemo and Dory.  Enjoy the pictures.

After we were done at the Aquarium we went to the Historical Museum that was on the same property.  There was a lot of interesting things there about the history of the state of Florida.  Information about the Indian, their culture, and how they lived.  Tools of the different trades, fishing, farming, medical, and many more.  They had a model train set in the lobby that was fascinating.   I couldn’t put everything but I did choose some that I thought you would enjoy.

After we were done with the museum we had a picnic in the park between the aquarium and the museum.  We barbecued hot dogs for lunch along with vegetables and chips.  It was such a nice warm day and we had a great time enjoying the beautiful scenery on all sides.

After lunch we headed to the beach.  The day was so warm I took off my shoes and socks and walked in the surf for a while.  It was a little cold at first but when I got used to it I felt fine.  The beach was so beautiful with the Florida white sand.  We had fun watching the surfers.  Don’t be jealous, walking in the surf in December…..   LOL

Well I hope you have enjoyed all the adventures that we had while staying at my brothers community in Sebring.  The SIM retirement community had some RV hookups and we were able to stay at home and still be close to my brother’s house.  We really enjoyed being there with them and hated to leave.  But we have to be home in time for Maya’s graduation in June so we needed to be on our way.

Next adventure will be from Zephyrhills where my niece Annette lives with her family.  See you soon….

We took an air boat ride on Lake Istokpoga which is a short drive south of Sebring by Lake Placid.  This was on the southern end of the lake.  My brother, Vernon, decided to go with us so we went in his car.  I have always wanted to try a ride on one of these boats so this seemed like as good a time as any.  There are so many different tours to choose from so we picked one that was closest to our location in Sebring.

When we got there it was still quite foggy on the lake so we had to wait a while for it to clear up some.  It was still a little foggy when we went out on the lake as you can see by some of the pictures below.  However, after we were out a while it did clear up.  Alligators come out to warm themselves in the sunshine so it was great that the fog lifted.

The boat ride was so much fun.  I was surprised at the speed and ease in which the boat when over the foliage in the lake.  Since it had been a foggy morning there was a lot of moisture on the reeds and we got wet every time he went over a bunch of them.  The good thing is that it wasn’t a cold day.

When he went over the swampy areas of the lake we did see lots of alligators.  Unfortunately, they also moved too fast to get many pictures.  However the guide was great to slow down and stop when he saw them so we could get pictures when possible.  We went on Bullfrog Airboat Tours with Captain Lee.  He was a great guide and gave us a lot of information.  He also would point out areas to look every time he saw an alligator, turtle, or other wildlife.  I would recommend this tour for anyone who is interested in go on an air boat ride in this area.

We would have seen more alligators on a warmer day.  He said there are thousands of them in the lake so on a better day we would have seen a lot more.  Here are the pictures to we took on the lake and of the alligators.  Enjoy.

Later in the week we went over to the Atlantic coast and we stopped back at the  northern end of the lake on our way home to go out on the pier.  The view was stunning in the early evening.  I could only imagine what it would look like at sunset or sunrise.  Here are those pictures.

The next blog will be about our trip to Fort Pierce, Florida to go dip my toe into the Atlantic Ocean.  Then next we are traveling to Zephyrhills, Florida to see my niece, Annette, and her family.  Talk again soon.