Wow, the last blog entry I've done was from our Memorial Day weekend. If you're one of my Florida readers, you understand why we were extremely busy this summer
(the summer that lasted until Christmas)
If your not a Florida reader, let me explain.
Folks, it was 86 degrees on Christmas day.
RIDICULOUS!
By August, we were 20 inches above normal rainfall and it continued to rain through September.
RAIN + HEAT = LOTS'O GRASS
We worked around the rain when we could, and IN it when we couldn't escape it.
There was no way we could possible plan any vacations when everything was in full bloom
(pun intended)
We did however make the most of our summer in between work, just nothing that I felt was blog worthy.
Now that we've had a couple of small frosts, work has slowed and we have a few things planned for 2016. I figured now was the time to catch up on our memories.
Welcome to my 1/2 of a year review :)
We did make it back to Ocean Pond for July 4th.
We flew the stars and stripes proudly!
Some got stuck....
We all got out.....eventually
We hung around "camp"
We ate GOOD food
And hung out some more
Sunrise over mud
We had some breakage
But we got it fixed.
And Mason got the first Sunday morning ride
Trevor sunk the Yota before 9:00 am
So much that he had to have the tractor pull him out.
The Yota was no worse for the wear AFTER we drained 13 quarts of mud, oil and muck out of it
The Bronco catching some rays.
By Sunday afternoon, the Yota was towed on to the trailer.
So was Ryan's Amigo
Yet Nate drove the Bronco right on up :)
It's a BEAST!
There were no other camping weekends until November, which we'll get to....in the meantime I hope you enjoy our daily quest for fun.
(I apologize in advance for picture qualities...some of these were taken with my phone, or someone else's phone and sent to me or posted on Facebook)
We've done some local trail riding
Although we prefer the mud at every opportunity!
1st rule of riding: Must have beer!
And big cajones!
We've done some local pub crawls and festivals
The second best thing about festivals, with beer being the first, is MUSIC!! If you know anything about me, you know I love music and will travel far and wide for the right stuff
Nate's friend Dave wanted to have a flex-off with me :)
Finally November rolled around and I saw that Blackberry Smoke was going to be in Ocala on the 14th. No way would I miss that! Ocala is only 20 minutes away. I got in touch with my dear friend Genia and she and her hubby traveled from South Carolina for the weekend.
Here we are all set up at the Ocala KOA on Thursday the 12th.
The guys traveled into Ocala and brought us some Krystal burgers for dinner, then we walked over to the clubhouse where we shot a few games of pool.
Friday morning we all drove out to go to Target.
(I tried to fit us all in the truck selfie, but my selfie game has a lot to be desired)
We picked up some things we needed at Target and I found some new beer I decided to try. Word to the wise: Redd's wicked black cherry ale is dangerous!!
Why am I lying on the ground, in white shorts, playing with the dogs?
Redd's!
Even Dave drove up to visit us!
(I was in no condition to flex this time)
Saturday morning we went to Cracker Barrel for breakfast knowing that it was going to be a long night. Then we just hung around camp for the day.
Saturday evening we drove over to the park for the concert. There were bands all day long as it was a food drive for the local food banks. In all my BBS concerts (9 of them) I MUST find the bus first thing.
Did I mention how happy I was?!
In my life there's nothing better than family, camping, music, beer and great friends!!
Even my old pal Donnie came down.
On Sunday we all made our way home. Now it was time to get into holiday mode. UGH!
We did manage to squeeze in the rodeo before Thanksgiving. We go every year and finally this year I got to meet my favorite cowboy, Spook.
Spook is a "catch man" and is a master at his craft!
This night is "Real men wear pink" benefiting breast cancer, which is why we're all in pink.
My good pal, John, also brought his family up from Dunedin for the show.
(He didn't get the pink memo)
Thanksgiving was great because for the first time in 15 years, I didn't cook!! No prep, no cooking, no clean up and no leftovers, Yahoo!! We all ate at my Mom's and it was a welcome change.
Nate and I braved the day after black Friday shopping but since we both HATE to shop we ended up buying nothing and having a nice lunch on the water instead.
That same weekend we went to High Octane to see Jamie Davis play.
Things slowed down for a couple weeks while I got Christmas shopping done.
December 19th, Trevor and I met up with our other friends Tom and Irene and Lori and Robby to go to Neon Leon's Zydeco Steakhouse. Dinner was excellent, beer was cold and the company was outstanding!!
You know I love music right? There's a lot going on in this photo.....the guy sitting on my left is Jimmie VanZant. Jimmie is Ronnie VanZant's (Lynryd Skynyrd) cousin, who has his own band. The guy with his back to the camera is Steve, who was original security for Skynyrd for years. Amazing stories were told at the table and I felt like I was talking to rock star royalty!! I even got up and played a hand made instrument with a guy playing the stage that night. "Neon Leon's" is named after Leon Wilkeson, the original bassist for Skynyrd, so you never know who may show up to play on any given night. You will hear more about Steve later as he was a total sweetheart!!
Like a big, scary, biker-ish, teddy bear :)
He decided that evening that I was to be called "Short Cut" because everyone wants to take a short cut home :)
Christmas went off without a hitch. We, along with everyone else, enjoyed our gifts and our family time.
Since my birthday was on a Sunday, we had to celebrate on Saturday the 26th. We ended up back at Leons for dinner and High Octane afterwards.
I didn't get too many pictures that evening because.....it was my birthday, and I was celebrating!!
Sunday morning came with a sore head but I was hosting my own birthday dinner party :)
About 15 of us gathered in my backyard with a ton of food and some friendly games of cornhole.
Robby and Mason were keeping score :)
The next week consisted of a little work and a lot of play. The week between Christmas and New Years is kind of a 'waiting game' Real life hasn't set in yet.
New Years Eve, all our friends and family came over for dinner and drinks, which was awesome. As much as I like to party, I don't like to be out on the roads with the people who also like to party, but not responsibly.
On Saturday the 2nd, we met up with Tom and Irene at The Shed in Homossassa. Another band we liked was playing there on the water.
When the band was done we ended up back at Leons. (it's just up the road from The Shed)
We closed it down that night!
Now all the holiday fun was over, we took a small break from any action. We knew we would all be getting together for the Manatee festival on the 16th. JimmieVanZant and his band were playing, along with some others. Neon Leons was sponsoring, and my favorite security guy, Steve, and his sweet wife, would be there.
What a great time!!! We were given VIP passes, and JVZ rocked it out!! By the time Trevor dragged me out of there and to the restaurant (where everyone else already was) I was happy, dancing, carrying a drumstick (given to me by sweet Steve, backstage) and partially deaf.
(No joke)
Another one of my very best friends (Woody) met us there also.
We ended the evening at High Octane where an old friend (Mike) rode up from Spring Hill so we could meet his beautiful wife Joanie.
Well, that brings us up to now.....even when we can't vacation we try to enjoy our life as much as possible. After losing Trevor's dad back in May, it made us realize how precious and sometimes short, life can be. We are truly grateful for our friends and family and no matter where we are or what we're doing, being together is all that matters.
Til next time.......
