From Mt Dora to Dora's Mom--February 9

Out for breakfast. McDonalds in Mt Dora. They give us soda cups instead of coffee cups! I turn my in and get coffee. Mt Dora is supremely cute and looks like there is a lot of money that flows through here. Hints: a dog bakery, antique stores up the gazotz, fancy tschotke stores. We check out the old downtown (rather than the outlying malls) and the head on.

‘On’ is the flea market at Webster. This was one of the favorite places for Mom and Dad; only runs on Monday. This was where you bought tomatoes and Plant City strawberries and odds and ends and spent a good morning browsing. Norb decides to stop a few miles short of Webster at another flea market and by the time we have surveyed the scene and bought our tomatoes and strawberries (Plant City ones, of course) we are flea marketed out. Webster is a 2-mile traffic jam getting into town and a 5-mile backup on the other side of the road as we leave town. Obviously, Webster is THE flea market to go to. Maybe next time.

On our way to the interstate we pass by Ridge Manor West and cut in to check our my parents’ old home. It’s looking pretty much the same. The community as a whole looks pretty much the same. The crummy house at the corner that has always been a blight on the neighborhood looks pretty much the same. We drive on.

We haven’t been on an interstate in more than a week, so it does take a bit of getting used to having so much space and so much traffic, but we adjust quickly and settle in. We stop for lunch at a rest stop, hoping to pick up a Florida map but all there is in this huge building are restrooms—2 men’s and 2 women’s. We pull off just north of North Ft Myers for the next rest stop because it promises visitor info. Turns out that the rest stop is to the left and visitor info is to the right. Visitor info, and mind you this visitor info is touted on an official Florida sign, turns out to be a dozen pamphlets at the truck stop. I am irate at Florida for pulling my leg in such a manner.

We arrive at Flo and Ralph’s and wonderful odors emanate from the kitchen. The days are longer here, not only because of the coming spring but because we are so much farther south, and I lose track of time. We enjoy some time on the patio, get stuff out of the RV, start our laundry, and help make supper. Luckily, the RV is level so we can leave the refrigerator running and don’t have to bring all that food into the house. This will be our home for the next 4 nights.