To our Family and Friends around the world.  We hope you have a wonderful holiday with your family and friends and that 2011 turns out to be a great year for you.

We are so thankful that we were able to visit with many of you during our first year of traveling around this great country.  We know we missed some of you, but we are looking forward to catching up with you soon.  So, now you've been warned!! We may be in your area soon.

We are having a wonderful time with our new lifestyle and have found that it's better than we imagined.  The  wonderful family and friends that we have been able to visit is the reason why.

Bill and Heather are doing great.  Heather had to be evacuated out of Mexico because of the troubles, but she is doing fine in Oklahoma near her family and Bill gets to visit often.  Bill will be in Monterrey, Mexico until May.  He and Heather are very much looking forward to their next two years in Bogota, Columbia.  Bill will be working at the Embassy there and it was #2 on their wish list of places to be sent.  Heather will be able to continue her job using the phone and internet.  They are wonderful people and we are so lucky to be in their lives.  We will spend some time with them this summer while they are in the US during their transition time between Mexico and Columbia.


Pilot, our greyhound, is still in the "adjusting" stage living like a gypsy.  He's very picky about his campgrounds.  Some he loves and, some, he hates.  He really needs to get over it. 

You can see what we've been up to and where we have been by reading this blog, just scroll down and read until you can't take anymore.

Please stay in touch with us through our email.  All the best and with love and hope for a wonderful 2011 for you and yours.  Alex and Chris

Yes, You Can Go Home Again

We headed to Fort Lauderdale a few weeks ago to visit family and old high school friends.  Alex and Chris have many mutual friends in the area so we were excited to see them.  We had not seen some of our friends in a very long, over due time. 

We had many breakfasts, lunches and dinners with our family and friends.  We got a few pictures and, as usual, we missed a few special friends and family since we forgot the CAMERA.  When will we learn?

While in the area we stayed at a Broward County Park right in the middle of where everyone lived.  It was very convenient for us.  Easterlin Park is a small park geared toward picnics, Frisbee golf, and is an oasis in the middle of a very busy city.  It is a Designated Urban Wilderness Area.  The campground was one of the best we have been to.  Except for the loud traffic noise and the train track about 300 feet away, which we got use to after a week there, this was a wonderful place.  It felt like we were in an old Florida jungle.  http://www.broward.org/Parks/EasterlinPark/Pages/Default.aspx    Large space, $40.00 a night for out of county residents, and very close to I-95, hence the traffic noise. 

Alex got to play tennis with his brother Bruce a few times and Bruce invited us to a great Mexican dinner with his friend, Jenny, and his beautiful daughter and our niece, Laura.  It was great to meet Jenny and to see Laura, who is glowing and thriving in Florida.

We also got to see Chris' sister, Poco and her husband Rob a few more times.   When our niece, Bridget, came home from American University, where she is going for her Masters, we got to see her.  She is a special, smart, sweet and lovely young women.  We were glad they came for dinner at our place. 

We want to thank Rusty and Sandy for the lovely dinner at their house that had just been decorated for Christmas.  Rusty went to high school with Alex, and Sandy went to high school with Chris.  It was great catching up with them and hearing about their 5 beautiful grandchildren.  It's funny to think back to all those years in high school together and now they have 5 grandchildren.  Where does the time go!

Just last weekend we had dinner with Paty and John at their "ranch".  They have 20 acres and they have built on and added to the ranch over the years.  The place is spectacular.  Yes, that's right, spectacular.  It's a beautiful home and we were so happy to see it at Christmas.  Paty must have had a 12 to 14 foot Christmas tree up and she had decorated it herself.  Her "White Christmas" tree was beautiful.  Chris and Paty went to high school together and later were roommates.  Paty talked us into spending the night so the two of them stayed up late talking about the old times.  It was a special evening.  Thanks you guys!

We got to see two of Chris' best friends from the old days, Sandy and Denise.  Denise had some family situations to take care of so we only got to see her for one day, but it was like old times and we caught up pretty quickly over breakfast at our place.  Sandy came for dinner and Chris spent some time with her out and about the town.  Sandy is getting ready to make some changes in her life and we are excited for her.  She is a wonderful friend to both Chris and Alex. 

We had a wonderful time in South Florida and it meant so much to us the effort everyone made to visit with us and go out of their way to be with us during this busy time of year.  Yes, you can go home again and it felt like home.  Thanks everyone.  We will be back soon. 

Pictures of just a few of our family and friends.  Click the link, select slide show, hit F-11 and let it load up.

http://picasaweb.google.com/ChrisTorrance/FloridaFriends?authkey=Gv1sRgCIGxjprahdfP0wE#

More Pics of Paty's Ranch

http://picasaweb.google.com/ChrisTorrance/PatySRanch?authkey=Gv1sRgCLT1lp_M_rGlzwE#

Rainbow Springs State Park, FL

While in Yankeetown, we went to Rainbow Springs State Park for a couple of hours. 

http://www.floridastateparks.org/rainbowsprings/photogallery.cfm?pagenum=1


It's a nice little park where the headwaters of the Rainbow River start.  "Rainbow" must refer to the color of the water in the river.  Stunning.  The park use to be an amusement park with a small zoo, gardens and rides.  The water falls in the park are from the old amusement park and are man made.  The water for the falls comes from the river. 

http://www.google.com/images?rlz=1T4TSHB_enUS314US324&q=photos+of+rainbow+springs+state+park&um=1&ie=UTF-8&source=univ&ei=Fk0KTbv0B8XHnAeL-fGCDw&sa=X&oi=image_result_group&ct=title&resnum=1&ved=0CCAQsAQwAA&biw=757&bih=319

Of all days, Chris forgot the camera.  UGH     So take a look at the photos on the above link and the State Park page.  You might have to enlarge some of the pictures to see the color of the river.  If you are in the area, this Park is worth a half a day of your time.

Cedar Key and Yankeetown, Florida

Thanksgiving for us was in Yankeetown, Florida where Chris' sister, Poco and her husband, Rob, have a cute vacation cottage.  We had a wonderful dinner with them and Rob's mom, Jean.  It was a quiet day with a wonderful Thanksgiving dinner. The kind where everything turns out just right and tastes so good that everyone overeats and then complains about it the rest of the day.  YUM.  

We stayed in Yankeetown at a little Marina on the river.  It was small and a little tight, but had a certain old Florida charm that is hard to find in Florida anymore.  http://www.bmarinacampground.net/

While there we ventured north 30 miles to Cedar Key for a day.  We both agreed that Cedar Key reminded us of the Key West of our youth, 40+ years ago. 

Here are pics of Cedar Key, B's Marina and sunsets from Yankeetown.  A nice way to spend a week.
 http://picasaweb.google.com/ChrisTorrance/CedarKeyAndYankeetown?authkey=Gv1sRgCILhitqmmauVBg#

Falling Rivers State Park and Great Oaks Plantation

We went to visit Marianna, Florida, where Chris lived when she was a little girl.  Her father was a flight simulator instructor at an Air Force Base there in the fifties.

We stayed about 30 miles away at Falling Rivers State Park.  It's a small park but it packs a lot in.  For one, they have SINKHOLES!!!  Cool.   The campground was comfortable under trees with lots of spanish moss.  It brought back many memories for Chris.  We enjoyed walking the boardwalks around the sinkhole area.  Pictures below.

We went into Marianna and visited a few neighborhoods where Chris lived.  We think we found one of the houses she lived in. 

We then went toward a small town called Greenwood.  There, we found Great Oaks Plantation.  Chris lived there when she was very little.  However, when she lived there, the Plantation had not been restored as it is now and was a bit of a mess, but her parents must have found it interesting. Chris, and her sister, Poco, sure had fun running around the place.  The pictures below tell a story, and in one, there is a picture of Mrs. Reese.  She and her husband are responsible for the restoration.  She is a lovely, gentle, southern lady.  Chris had a nice talk with her about the house.  As usual, click the link, select "slide show" and hit F-11 on your computer to enlarge the screen. 

Pics of Sinkholes:  http://picasaweb.google.com/ChrisTorrance/FallingRiversStatePk02?authkey=Gv1sRgCL2DmrDgpqGeBA#

Pics of Great Oaks:  http://picasaweb.google.com/ChrisTorrance/GreatOaksPlantation?authkey=Gv1sRgCIWXre63jIigrgE#