One Year on the Road

We met with Dave to go over things at the ranch.

Bailey got to meet the dogs and horses.

And the koi fish.

Uncle David took us to dinner.

When we arrived with Bessie, David had left for Missouri.

But Mae came twice a day to take care of the animals.

My republican uncle and I love each other in spite of our political differences.

Our first morning, I woke up to this out Bessie&#039;s window.

There&#039;s a family of four sand hill cranes that live on the ranch.

This guy lost a foot, but hobbles along fine.

Our first morning, it was actually windy and cold.

Gypsy had to check out some of the trees.

One morning, we went to the Webster Flea Market.

My brother had this Charlie Weaver bartender doll.

A great place to buy size 11 pink shoes and tie.

Want a gun? No questions asked.

Cool hair do!

You can have one of your own.

We stuck to the strawberries.

Webster is a pretty small town.

Not much to it.

Typical Florida woods.

Back at the ranch, Gypsy and Bailey were eager to get back outside.

Uncle Dave&#039;s got over 20 acres of property.

Hammock under the tree.

Bailey was loving being a free range dog.

Gypsy liked the life, too.

This was her first real time off leash outside.

And she was curious about everything.

Especially the horses.

And the koi pond.

These fish are like the fish in her iPad game.

She was fearless around the little dog, Gee.

And she chased Hannah the pit bull right back into the house.

She tried stalking the sand hill cranes.

The cranes kept a close eye on her.

But they weren&#039;t too intimidated.

We kept both pets away from the pond, where alligators could be seen.

I rode my bike to the nearby national cemetery.

Fields and fields of soldiers buried here.

This solider fought in the Civil War.

All decked out for Christmas.

Wives are engraved on the back. Someday we&#039;ll see &quot;her wife&quot; or &quot;his husband.&quot;

Morning bath.

Meanwhile, back at the ranch...

Gypsy was getting to know the horses better.

Big nose to little nose.

Before long, she was spending all her free time in the pasture.

&quot;What? I&#039;m over here!&quot;

Once she tried to eat grass like they were.

As she got braver, she went out into the pasture with them.

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She followed after them.

Bailey tries to get Gypsy to play.

Gypsy is stymied by Bailey&#039;s sudden outburst of glee.

Another day, I took a bike ride alongside Florida swamps.

We took advantage of the chance to wash Bessie.

It&#039;s a big job.

Kate loved sewing in a real house.

She finished some Christmas presents for friends.

Christmas Eve lunch, we ate at this riverside cafe.

It&#039;s on the Withlacoochee River.

It&#039;s a fun funky place near the ranch.

Good ol&#039; country cooking!

All the regulars have stockings up.

You can rent a canoe if you don&#039;t mind the alligators.

Alligators are just a part of life here, I guess.

Hay ride, Florida style.

Life in Florida: our first cockroach was huge!

On Christmas morning, we opened a present from Dad.

A Bessie towel from my sister.

A Christmas kringle from my brother.

Kate&#039;s present to me was going on a bike ride.

This rails-to-trails bike path goes for miles.

Through some swamps.

And by a lake.

Fall color for Florida.

A long walkway on the lake.

You probably can&#039;t see the alligator in the bottom-right corner.

But it was a biggun!

We rode by some tiny run-down towns.

A pretty back road.

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Jesse called us to say, &quot;Merry Christmas!&quot;

What a hot, sweaty Christmas!

The horses got some Christmas apples.

This is Indy.

This is Khallis.

They happliy take treats.

The cranes got a little extra food, too.

They always hang out together.

David feeds them twice a day.

On Christmas, we had a real turkey dinner.

Yum! But so odd, all this food for just the two of us.

A full moon on Christmas.