Wanderung 28

We left home about 7:45 a.m. on Friday and had a beautifully clear, sunny day to drive South on I 95. Drafting trucks for much of the afternoon, we got tremendous gas mileage (estimated 60 mpg!) and arrived at our hotel at Exit 5 in South Carolina near the Georgia border at sundown around 5 p.m.

We hit the road the next morning about 8:00 a.m. and had an easy drive as far as the Florida border. After stopping for maps, information, and orange juice at the visitor Welcome Center just South of the border, we ran into a solid, slow backup so bad that it took us almost 2 hours to go 6 or 7 miles to the next possible exit. Our Tom Tom predicted another 52-minute backup right ahead, so in desperation we got off the Interstate and worked our way westward to Route 301. We followed Route 301 southwest through the middle of Florida to Route 19, which led us pretty much due South to Homosassa.

We arrived at our rental house, called "The Sanctuary" around 3 p.m. The Sanctuary is located right on a wetlands area quite rich in wildlife, including waterfowl. Curiously, we were only a few minutes later then Martin, Tanya, Ericka, and Ondina, which was amazing considering that Ericka and Ondina had driven up from Miami, Florida, and picked up Martin and Tanya at the Tampa Airport only that morning.

It was a great family reunion. Unfortunately Martin was sick with flu so we delayed his birthday party. We all went shopping at Publix to stock the refrigerator. Monika cooked chicken and pasta for dinner and Tanya made a salad, after which we settled in for the night.