4/16/07 (Monday): The third great adventure has begun! We traveled from Maine to Babson Park, FL, and now we’re on our way to Michigan. We feel so fortunate to be having this life.

We almost got delayed leaving Wiley's parents' home because a baby mockingbird had left the nest and was sheltering in the driveway. He was so cute!

We spent Saturday and Sunday nights with our friends, Julie and John, in Ocala, FL. They have a lovely home. We enjoyed some wonderful homemade soup and then lounged around the pool. We took them to Applebees for dinner and then made it an early night. The weather was potentially very bad, so we decided to stay the second night. We sure appreciate your

hospitality, Julie and John!

We saw this baby bunny in Julie and John's back yard. We left about 8 AM this morning. It was cool and windy, but not too bad. We headed up U.S. 27, and it was a beautiful drive. There was

very little traffic and we enjoyed seeing the farmland and little towns along the way. We crossed the Ichnetucknee River and had some fond memories of inner tubing trips there with our Florida Trail Association friends. We also crossed the Santa Fe River and the Suwannee River and recalled several overnight canoe trips that we had enjoyed.

As we got into Georgia, Spring was not quite advanced as in Florida. The pecan groves had that new green flush, the corn was only ankle high, and the calves looked much younger than in Florida. Several farms had newly plowed fields and the newly turned clay made a bloody gash through the soft green trees.

We wound up just west of Macon in a small campground set in a pecan grove. We had a nice walk up a dirt road through the pecan grove. There were lots of deer tracks. Now Wiley is out metal detecting and I have dinner simmering on the stove while I watch the news. Tomorrow we’ll go through Warm Springs (where Franklin Roosevelt came to get treated for polio) and Pine Mountain. It should be a lovely ride. We won’t stop because we’ve been to both places before. We should make it to my son’s home by Thursday or Friday. We’ll camp at a KOA very close to his home. I’m looking forward to showing off the new camper. We’ve already done a lot of work on it, including adding hooks for coats and clothing, a nifty shoe storage system that I invented, and some other conveniences. It feels like home!

We miss everyone already! Stay in touch.